When you first embarked upon your career, you may have stumbled, adjusted, retooled, and re-evaluated. Then you found your path. If you are a highly capitalized business in Canada burdened with plant and equipment and a claim that jobs will be lost in the face of market forces, you get teary eyed and whine to governments for bail outs. This is becoming endemic to the Canadian corporate psyche. If you have business operations in Quebec – then governments not only wipe your tears with oodles of cash but roll out the red carpet in a direct line to the treasury.
Your governments get themselves into trouble because they cannot balance a cheque book. Then they think in order to keep the funds flowing, they’ll need to “invest” in the plumbing that keeps the cash flowing. They’ve got it wrong. Capitalism is the driver of economic success. Taxpayers expect services related to the common good and not targeted bail outs for losers irrespective of international trade agreements and barriers.
In a capitalist environment while facing international trade pressure, manufacturers curtail production until the environment once again turns friendly. Those involved in the industry have every opportunity during a down turn in a land fostering freedom to redirect their energies just like every other Canadian is expected to do during times of career / job pressure.
I expect more of my governments handling my tax money and I bet you do too.
Since the Deputy Press Secretary basically wiped the floor with journalists today, I’ll ask the obvious… was this Director of the FBI onto something in regard to the Russia / Trump connection which the White House came to learn leading to the firing? Not only are there allegations that Russia interfered with the U.S. election, but Donald Trump was praising Russia during the election campaign peculiarly when Russia had recently invaded an autonomous nation while sympathizing with the Syrian Assad regime. What is one to think? Is it some financial interest in Russia which has had Trump adorning Vladimir Putin with praise during the election campaign? When you fire the Director of the FBI who possesses a ten year term representative of an office needing distance from political influence, there are going to be some very serious questions that arise. When both sides of the political aisle voice both confidence and non-confidence at various times during this man’s sensitive post and tenure, could it be that his objectivity in alignment with a purpose of national security was executed dutifully in the face of political pressure? When nobody is happy with a man operating with such responsibility, it frankly leaves me comforted. Upon witnessing the immature bully like behavior of this President of the United States during the election campaign, I would not put it past him to fire the Director of the FBI for fear of potential reprisals arising from actions undertaken by a smart man doing his job. If you behave like a moron, don’t be surprised if people question your capacity for leading the free world with responsible unselfish decisions.
Frankly I think Alberta would have been better served by someone different. He’s a crony of the by-gone elitist Harper era on the federal scene and is polarizing on the controversial matters of same sex marriage and abortion. While being taxed exorbitantly (47 per cent highest marginal rate with the new tax bracket), Albertans have little patience for their leader to be preaching social policy from a righteous pulpit. Albertans want absolute action on fiscal responsibility so that tax rates can be lowered measurably. While a minister in the federal government of Canada, I heard little from Mr. Kenney on the topic of measurably reducing core tax rates for Canadians. It may have been a belief of his at the time but Mr. Harper liked to keep the media in the dark and his round table muted. The old Harper administration tinkered with tax credits for families but did little to incite the capitalist spirit in our country for free enterprise. I do admire Mr. Kenney’s passion and sincerity for his work but at a time when the current administration has lost control of our finances, the last thing Alberta needs is an ultra idealist being long winded on how he thinks we should run our lives. I hope I’m wrong and this man will find a way to shelve his dogma surrounding your bedroom and your doctor’s office and appeal to centrist thinking Albertans along with Wildrose supporters in a way that propels him to success in uniting the right. As a reminder to you staunch Wildrose supporters, Danielle Smith sold out on you. She crossed the floor – remember. The movement is dead. Get on board. The alternative is socialism forever.
I premise my remarks by exclaiming that religion does not belong in the halls where governments administer legislation nor should legislation in any way be impacted by the interests of a religion. Secondly, I harbour absolutely no bias toward one religion versus another. Every individual should have their absolute freedom to express their religion so long as their expression does not impinge upon another’s ability to do so or for the activities of a group to function. Symbols of a religion should not be permitted in the premises of a secular legislative assembly. Law enforcement must dutifully execute hate laws to the letter of the criminal code and in fact if hate legislation needs to be strengthened in the context of a modernizing world, then so be it. In fact, if it wasn’t for indifference by administrative officials in our education system, adolescent lives could have been saved from bullying.
In lieu of my premise, the more I see these headlines of special interest groups attempting to garner comfort from my government, the more I see red. What is becoming of my governments? Have they become counselling chambers for the dispossessed? Have they become social engineering committees for those ill equipped to compete in a capitalist market? Have they become meeting places for lobbyists to sojourn? Have they become trading pits for swapping wealth? Could there be a swath of Canada growing impatient with government overreach emerging similar to the U.S. rust belt which thrust Donald Trump into power? Here is a message for Justin Trudeau and Rachel Notley from this tax accountant who has now witnessed a 47 per cent top marginal Alberta tax rate pinned upon the most successful. Our forefathers did not serve dutifully in war for their descendants to become extorted from financially by you! (extortion – oppressive or illegal exaction, as of excessive price or interest). Start delivering an agenda that serves folks who fuel the salaries of those sitting on the public purse! Get our $160 million dollar per day debt paid down by doing the responsible thing. Rein in spending and get our country’s financial health in order so that Canadians can become unencumbered by an irrational tax rate!
While your CRA is charging you arrears interest, instalment interest and an egregious personal income tax rate at the same time that you may be managing debt associated with growing your small private business undertaken by earnest capitalist passion, your government is charging zero interest to Bombardier for a $372.5 million dollar loan repayable over 15 years of which no payment is due during the first two years. This is capitalism in Canada folks. Lobbying corporate directors of Bombardier with operations in a politically sensitive part of Canada (Quebec) are so proud of their product that they can’t seem to find investment capital outside of their government and hence you as the taxpayer now will bear the risk with an apparent zero rate of return on the prospect a success. There’s something not right here. Does our government not believe in capital markets in a capitalist system? Does it not believe that investment wealth follows good news stories from companies’ aspirant to match their innovative products with financiers? Does our government think that our first world country lacks pools of available capital? Or, perhaps, it’s about politics and our government believes you are naive or too self involved to take issue.
