Do you know how much you gave to the various political parties through the forced contribution voter tax last quarter?
Yup, you've donated $27 million. That's just last quarter.
OTTAWA — Canadians have paid more than $27 million in allowance to the country's main political parties, under a public financing system Prime Minister Stephen Harper unsuccessfully tried to eliminate in 2008.
Elections Canada released fourth-quarter numbers Wednesday, illustrating how Canadian tax dollars continued to tell the story of the federal election held more than two years ago.
Fourth-Quarter payments:
Bloc Quebecois
$691,289
Conservative Party of Canada
$2,609,418
Green Party of Canada
$469,686
Liberal Party of Canada
$1,819,999
New Democratic Party
$1,260,002
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister tried to eliminate this tax in their fall update shortly after the election in 2008 in which the opposition had a hissy fit and the coalition of the three stooges were exposed and tried to overthrow a recently duly elected government that got more seats than they. Where the separatist party would have had a major say in what goes on in the ROC.
Kevin Gaudet from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is perfectly right.
"We totally supported Harper when he tried to get rid of it," said Kevin Gaudet, national director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "None of them should get one red cent. Political parties ought to be raising money on their own."
The problems with the allowance run deep, he said, noting that some voters end up giving funds to parties they don't support. All taxpayers subsidize the allowance, but only registered parties that meet voting thresholds qualify to receive funding.
Another longtime source of contention concerning the subsidies involves the "disproportionate amount" of funding the Bloc receives, said Gaudet.
Since we have to go into an austerity period it would be a perfect time to end this tax. Why should we be forced to contribute our tax dollars to political parties that we don't like? The elimination of this tax would hurt all the opposition parties but the hardest hit would be the separatist Bloc and the Liberals the most. The Bloc is just a regional party that runs candidates in only one province whose one objective is to break up the country. Rest of Canada should not be subsidizing a party like that. It's just not right.
Should it be a part of the up coming budget? I say yes. The opposition wouldn't like it, they'd defeat the government and off we'd go to the polls. If not part of the budget, it should at least be a major part of the CPC election platform plank in the next election. How would the other parties explain at the doors why taxpayers should be forced to fund parties they don't like?
