Editor: As a former American CEO, I can attest that Canadians work hard, very hard, and are just as productive as Americans. But Canadians are being squeezed to death. I am not an economist, but here are a few suggestions:
Through tariffs and taxes to support mismanagement and a bloated bureaucracy Canadians pay 30 per cent more and higher for a multitude of everyday products like milk and staples. Canadians pay twice as much for gasoline. Twice.
Eliminate these tariffs and taxes. Canadians should pay no more than Americans for the same goods and services. Streamline the bureaucracy. Canadians can’t afford it (Travel Alberta has a staff of 70 I am told in Calgary). Add in their Edmonton office and Banff Lake Louise Tourism and the number nears 100. That’s 90 too many. Let the excess return to the private sector, where competitive contracts, if needed, can utilize their services, and put tax dollars back into the private economy.
Local property taxes have risen by hundreds of dollars, but Canadians can’t deduct their mortgage interest. Give them the tax deduction. It will boost the housing industry (these tariffs and taxes can’t be blamed on free health care when defense spending is far less than America’s 3.5 per cent of its GDP).
The loonie has been devalued by 23 per cent and with the central bank’s plan to lower interest rates further, Canada’s currency will sink even more. This is devastating to nearly all Canadians, even more so to those wishing to travel. Don’t bail out the country on the back of its savers, while forcing retirees on a fixed income into riskier investments.
Cronyism and conflicts of interest on a municipal level, supported by outdated aristocratic protections, (yes, right here in Bow Valley) have been allowed to flourish. Legal authorities have said it is so widespread it is daunting to prosecute.
This is not a victimless crime. Ordinary citizens are hurt. Toughen the laws. Enforce them. Force the offenders and those who tolerate it to resign from public positions, and punish the guilty, both givers and takers, to the full extent of the law.
Canadian statutes permit monopolies, and near monopolies, unless they abuse their dominant position. Excuse me? That is what a monopoly does, and Canadians pay for it in higher prices and unfair competition. They don’t belong on a national or local level.
This all boils down to one thing. If Canadians have more money to spend they will spend it, businesses will prosper, become more profitable, and a positive cycle will ensue. Continue as is, with oil revenues no longer able to cover these inequities, and to varying degrees the people of Greece and Canada may have more in common than they like. That’s not fair to a nation of honest and hard working people.
Jamie MacVicar, Banff
