Beggar Thy TaxPayers
The Province of Ontario is sinking deeper into an unsettled economic situation that has been brewing for far too long. Starting with the slow disintegration of the job market, and manufacturing facilities ebbing away to re-appear in other countries with far lower wage settlements.
The international economic recession did no favours to Ontario, although the province remains in far better shape than its counterparts in Europe and the rest of North America.
It didn't help at all that Premier Dalton McGuinty was spending and wasting lavishly before the downturn. But now that matters are beginning to look even more grim he is desperate to find new sources of revenue.
Never mind that it has recently been revealed that he invested taxpayer money in hosting the International Indian Film Festival, bringing Bollywood stars to Toronto on our dime a scant few months back, to aid his re-election prospects, spending over $10-million in the process.
Now, he's looking to assist the province's municipal police forces in recovering an estimated $1-billion in unpaid fines to boost the province's revenues. "It's going to be very important to look for ways to ensure that any money that is owing to us is in fact being paid", he has said.
Which also translates to a re-alignment of the spending promises of billions he trumpeted during the election.
As for Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, he has informed cabinet ministers that"there must be a real dollar found somewhere else within our envelope", for "every dollar of new spending". The province, says the premier, is now moving "into an era where we've been called upon to ensure growth in expenditures better reflects growth in the economy itself."
Suddenly, he has found the religion of restraint, and is proudly born-again. And taxpayers can hold their breath, as he undertakes options available to him with re-election, to impose tax hits here and there, known as increases, even when done by stealth.
The international economic recession did no favours to Ontario, although the province remains in far better shape than its counterparts in Europe and the rest of North America.
It didn't help at all that Premier Dalton McGuinty was spending and wasting lavishly before the downturn. But now that matters are beginning to look even more grim he is desperate to find new sources of revenue.
Never mind that it has recently been revealed that he invested taxpayer money in hosting the International Indian Film Festival, bringing Bollywood stars to Toronto on our dime a scant few months back, to aid his re-election prospects, spending over $10-million in the process.
Now, he's looking to assist the province's municipal police forces in recovering an estimated $1-billion in unpaid fines to boost the province's revenues. "It's going to be very important to look for ways to ensure that any money that is owing to us is in fact being paid", he has said.
Which also translates to a re-alignment of the spending promises of billions he trumpeted during the election.
As for Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, he has informed cabinet ministers that"there must be a real dollar found somewhere else within our envelope", for "every dollar of new spending". The province, says the premier, is now moving "into an era where we've been called upon to ensure growth in expenditures better reflects growth in the economy itself."
Suddenly, he has found the religion of restraint, and is proudly born-again. And taxpayers can hold their breath, as he undertakes options available to him with re-election, to impose tax hits here and there, known as increases, even when done by stealth.
Labels: Crisis Politics, Economy, Ontario
posted by Pieface | 6:55 PM
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