Go to article index for other editions of Bob Orrick's IN RE (In the Matter of).
The Canadian Way, Eh?
By
Bob Orrick
Why is it that politicians and bureaucrats can take a simple idea and turn it into a complicated, convoluted twisted piece of legislation that few citizens can understand?
Why is it that governments - politicians - allow the bureaucrats, the real power behind the throne - to suck up millions of taxpayers' dollars in poorly conceived, poorly administrated programmes?
Why is it that Canadians are so docile and allow themselves to be manipulated so easily by over-zealous bureaucrats and incompetent politicians?
The first of the aforementioned posers refers to the current income tax system that befuddles ordinary Canadians to the point of exasperation. What is so difficult about government instilling a policy of taxing every taxpayer equally with a fixed percentage? What is wrong with each taxpayer shelling out 20-22 per cent of income annually? What is so difficult about ridding the system of the twists and turns and loopholes that clever accountants can and do use -legally, of course - to find ways to reduce or eliminate tax to be paid?
In order to be fair - and to be seen to be fair - a threshold figure would be established below which no tax would be paid. Currently, that figure is $7,756 [such an odd amount]. Why not raise it to $15,000? This is the amount the Canadian Taxpayers Federation [CTF] wants as the amount of money exempt from income taxes. With the higher figure, more Canadians would keep more of their money and be able to purchase more goods and services thus ensuring an ever-increasing economic circle. I fail to see why such a simple system needs to be complicated with a variety of twists and dodges and loopholes. The $15,000 figure is, according to a spokesman for the CTF, "roughly the amount earned by Canadians who work year-round at a minimum-wage job." Of course, if Ottawa were to wake up and smell the roses and let the light of common sense enter its dulled noggin, then thousands of bureaucrats would no longer be needed. If they are any good at their jobs, the private sector will quickly and gratefully snap them up. If they fail to land a job in the private sector, then they were simply taking up space and costing taxpayers bundles of bucks. And that would mean that 96 per cent of some 4,000-government executives would no longer qualify for performance bonuses. One wonders about the four per cent who did not qualify for bonuses; were they just too clumsy or incompetent or were they too often too late for work? It is a question that demands an answer.
The bonuses, by the way, cost Canadian taxpayers $39 million and averaged $10,000 per executive. Yet, Ottawa cries that it does not have enough money to alleviate the hardship imposed on the low income and mid-level income taxpayers by the draconian system Ottawa terms its personal income tax system. A simple, uncomplicated tax system devoid of loopholes would generate about the same revenue as does the current complicated mishmash that Ottawa passes off as a sensible system.
The second question concerns the real power in Ottawa [and in each provincial and territorial capital], the bureaucrats. Politicians come and politicians go but bureaucrats remain. Our system of appointment of cabinet ministers has a good side and a not-so-good side. First the good side. The first minister appoints members of the government side of the legislature to cabinet positions. The choices are based on a number of factors. If a cabinet minister turns out to be a klutz and borders on the incompetent, the first minister can remove that person and replace the klutz with a more qualified, and hopefully, more competent member. Second, the not-so-good side. A strong bureaucracy can easily manipulate a weak cabinet minister. The bureaucrats know that they can work a weak minister who is not strong enough to stand up to the bureaucrats' personal agendas. The result is that the cabinet minister fails to present to cabinet policies that agree with the government's announced platform. What are presented instead are ideas generated by the bureaucrats. In fairness to bureaucrats, they do not all harbour personal agendas but they all know that long after a weak, or even a strong, minister has gone, they remain to carry out the administration of the country or province or territory. For this they are paid handsomely.
The final poser concerns the low turnout at general elections in Canada. General election returns are not truly representative of the wishes of the population; or maybe they are. In Canada, the federal Liberals hold sway in Ottawa despite having the trust of fewer than fifty per cent of the electorate. Those Canadians who did not favour the Liberals put their hopes in a fractured opposition. Add to that, the 'corruption' that takes place once an elected member sits in the House. He or she is like a trained seal; they stand when told to stand, they sit when told to sit, they flap their hands when told to flap their hands, and generally are at the beck and call of their dictator leader, the prime minister. Canadians are under the false impression that the person they elect to represent them in the House of Commons will reflect their views and carry their aspirations forward. The so-called 'free vote' is often anything less than free. Members soon learn that in order to curry favour with the big guy, they need to follow his lead. Failure to do so more often than not results in censure or expulsion from caucus. Add to that, that at the next general election the rebellious member might not be assured of party support. When that happens, the former party member becomes an independent and usually - but not always - fails to win the seat. So, members sit, stand, clap, and speak when told to by their leader.
The tragedy is that Canadians go along with the charade. Where is the anger? Where is the unrest? Where is the will to correct a deficiency in our system? Why are Canadians so damn docile when it comes to their own system of government? It is high time that Canadians opened a window and shouted " I am mad as hell and won't take it anymore!"
Sadly, they won't; but they will complain then sit back and do nothing of substance. Canadians are more interested in the weather.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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