Flaherty Wants to Raise your Taxes Good on Him.

Here is news you don't expect to hear, Mike Flaherty of the Conservative Part of Canada Flaherty's wants to raise your taxes. Follow the link and be surprised. The Conservatives looked at Canadian Pension Plan and said we need so reform here. At that point you might think privatization of CPP, along the lines of what the American conservatives tries under Bush. You would be wrong. Flaherty acknowledged that CPP is an extremely well run Government program, that is solvent, going forward 75 years. It is also an important service that provides some peace of mind for the majority of Canadians that will retire with no other pension and the minority that have been unable or yes unwilling to save for their own retirement.
Raising the employer/employee premiums have the usual suspects screaming job losses business closures. I am waiting for the Tax Payers Federation to come out against the increase, that is my indication that it is a decent idea.
I understand it is an ugly issue, nobody wants to pay, even as they benefit from programs provided through taxation. Some don't want to pay because they are well off enough never to need it, or they just don't like any government programs. To these people i can't write anything that will change your minds.
I Credit Flaherty with understanding that CPP is a very useful tool. It is a low cost way to offset poverty among the elderly, the disabled and other disadvantage groups. The Government administers the CPP and we contribute, how simple a plan is that.
I would also challenge Mr. Flaherty to come up with more ways to get Canadians to save. We are all better off when we take part in providing for our futures. The TSFA program was stroke of genius and the old RRSP though both, have the draw back of depending on free markets and our own competence, the results can be mixed. These methods of retirement planning also assume that an individual has income that they can set aside for investment. While some people are profligate spenders, most want to save but don't have the excess cash.
What the government needs to do is create a program that will incentivize businesses big and small to create their own mini-pensions, administered by government and transferable from job to job. This plan can be mandated for those under a certain income level. It will not be paid for out of the payroll because we already have CPP, this one is paid for through tax rebates to the business. If the Tories are hell bent on cutting taxes on big and small business make it work for everyone. Company A contributes 1% of weekly pay towards a pension they receive a 1.5% tax break. I will let the experts work out the details, but the, idea is to let Tax cuts work for Canadians and Canadian businesses.
I also hear that Flaherty wants to hike EI contributions. Again I congratulate the Tories on understanding that in tough times when EI fund gets drawn down you need to fill it back up. I expect that we the economy gets back on a solid footing we can see the EI rate adjusted down again.
Institutions are routinely in need of tweaking and sometimes of a total reset. It is nice to see the Tories addressing the needs of Canadians through Ideas and not Ideology.