Sshhhh, I think I hear disgruntled whispers. Yes, actually it’s getting much louder now. Is that the people? Finally! It is the people— and they are waking up. The people of Canada have finally realized that the government is not working for the citizens of Canada. The countrymen of Canada are working for their government.

Let’s look at the latest and greatest, my writing voice is dripping with sarcasm.  Think about this— The government is now charging you a carbon tax on your gas to go to work. It’s irrelevant to them that you are going to work so you and your family can live, and pay the tidy one third, or one half portion of your cheque to the government in taxes. It is no skin off their nose that we live in a country where we have winter six months of the year and they added a carbon tax to our heating bill. I actually think some politician probably got a nice pat on the back for that one, “Great idea! Canada has winter six months of the year it’s guaranteed income. Let the UN know that we can give the Sudan a couple extra million in aid.” And then a few weeks later after the announcement…  the head of the Sudan government is calling up his Swiss banker preparing the paperwork to deposit a large amount of money. The starving families in the dust bowl deserts and war-torn areas of the Sudan get a few truckloads of grain.

But really, isn’t it ridiculous? The government will take the carbon tax received and refund the low- income individuals, (the only part that is logical) and then the rest will go into general revenue where it is spent on whatever. Oh, look the government just created a whole bunch of jobs in administration by creating a new tax. Then they expect the carbon tax to slow people’s consumption of fossil fuel products when they are supporting no options to replace what we have. I don’t know about you but I need to heat my house in the winter. Do they really expect people to run out and buy solar panels and wind turbines and an electric car to reduce emissions? Who has that kind of money? Oh yeah, trust fund babies do. This carbon tax is a money grab. It will do nothing to reduce Canada’s very minimal carbon footprint because your average Canadian cannot afford an alternative energy source. If they were serious about going green they would use the extra money they gather from the carbon tax to offer to solutions instead of simply wasting it by tossing it in the general revenue trough. They could fund programs to plant more trees, build solar generation plants, build hydro dams, and grow hemp for plastics and biofuels. Did they even toss around the idea of setting up a green energy fund? No. They are taking the money from the carbon tax and sticking it in general revenue.

Ahhh, general revenue, the bottomless account that pays the bills and more. The more is when the government takes billions of Canadian taxpayers money and gives it to other countries to contribute to fixing their problems. Which would be amazing if it worked, but it doesn’t, because there is no accountability to what happens to that money after it leaves Canada. A great deal of it ends up in a government official’s pocket in that country and very little gets through to the intended parties. Did you know the Foreign Aid program has been in place since the fifties and we are still throwing money at the same problems today as we were back then?  I bet you didn’t know Canada paid out $9.3 million in foreign aid to China in 2017, I couldn’t find the statistic for 2018, but I bet it was about the same. China owns more than $3 trillion in foreign reserves. Why are we sending them money? Let’s get on the phone, “Hello China?” We found out you had lots of money under your mattress so how about you look after your own poor people now?”

Please don’t misunderstand me. I donate to charities on a regular basis. I support the idea of giving aid to less fortunate countries but if we are continuing to do so we need to ensure the money going to those countries is being received in it’s intended manner. I don’t think it is because we are not the only country contributing to humanitarian causes. There are plenty of other industrialized countries forking out funding too, and on a much larger scale than we are. Think about it? All these countries have been giving millions of dollars in Foreign Aid since the 1950’s. Isn’t it obvious the programs aren’t working to accomplish the desired results? Throwing money at a struggling country won’t help any of the starving and suffering people if a large portion of it is getting stuffed into Swiss bank accounts. The money is mismanaged. It shouldn’t be a big surprise but why do we have to keep throwing the Canadian taxpayers money away. Look at us? Canada is supposedly a well-managed country and we are prospering to the tune of 18 billion dollar debt under the Liberals. We should be able to keep our hungry fed and our poor housed. Again— Sarcasm.

Our present leader is hopeless; he throws the Canadian taxpayers money around like it was his own. He recently gave away $50 million in taxpayer dollars through a tweet to a charity called ‘Education Cannot Wait’. This charity has no historical successes. It was established during the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 by international humanitarian and development aid actors, along with public and private donors.  This is a newly formed charity fund, which may not even exist in three years because it is unproven. I cannot fathom the pomposity it took to do this. Shouldn’t donations have to go through some sort of screening process? Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister, Eastern Canada’s election pick, simply decided to throw out a tweet like he was some sort of celebrity. “Hey @Trevornoah – thanks for everything you’re doing to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s legacy at the @GlblCtzn festival. Sorry I can’t be with you – but how about Canada pledges $50M to @EduCannotWait to support education for women & girls around the world? Work for you? Let’s do it.”

Hey fellow Canadians, drop to your knees your load just got a little heavier.  Just look at the arrogance of our government, they are using the taxpayers, as a cash cow to fund pet projects. This government has no accountability. But to be fair Justin comes by it honestly, here is a quote from an article written by Eric Margolis, “In 1968, when Pierre Trudeau went from rich, socialist professor who had never held a real job in his life to prime minister, Canada’s national debt was a modest $11.3 billion; the federal deficit was zero. When Trudeau left office in 1984, the debt had mushroomed to $128 billion; the deficit to $25 billion annually. But this was just the beginning.” Does this scenario feel familiar? Feel free to read the whole article https://theblastnz.com/2017/03/08/justin-trudeau-born-and-raised-a-communist/

I would love an independent accounting firm to come in and have a look at the government of Canada’s books. It would delight me if they would follow up on every dollar given through taxation. Isn’t it about time the government became accountable to the taxpayers of Canada on the peoples terms? Let me remind you if you have forgotten— They work for you! You do not work for them… although when you add up all the taxes you pay through GST, provincial sales tax, excise tax, liquor tax, federal income tax, provincial income tax, carbon tax, property tax, probate tax, hotel tax, and airport tax, you have to wonder who is actually working for who?

But do you want to know the worst part of it? The saddest part about all of this is that most Canadians simply want to look after their families, have a safe community to celebrate, pay their bills, and maybe have a bit of a holiday once a year. Canadians want a simple honest life. They are generally complacent. So, when another tax is added to the heap they might grunt and whinge a bit. Sure their head might drop another notch to grind out another day of work, or add another part time job to make ends meet but they do it. Our country was built on hard work. But now we have hit a wall. Some provinces are losing thousands of jobs and the ones they are being replaced with will barely cover living expenses. Canadians are through giving their money to a government, which doesn’t understand how to build a prosperous economy and create real jobs. People are tired of paying taxes that are misused and misdirected towards programs that don’t have the desired outcomes anyway. Even in a country full of complacent individuals there comes a time they will say enough. Is now the time?

   He’s not Canadain but his words ring true. Ben Carson- Retired American neurosurgeon that did pioneering work on the successful seperation of conjoined twins joined at the head. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.