The Harris-ment on Ontario


The government of Ontario has claimed a 20 billion dollar tax cut over the next five years. According to the Globe and Mail, this is the same amount as the expected increase in the national debt in the same period. Thus, one way of looking at things is that Harris is borrowing all the money for the tax cut.

Further, 66% of these tax cuts benefit people in the top 10% of income brackets. Households earning $90,000 or more account for 50% of that sum -- approximately 10 billion dollars. Shouldn't the tax cuts be helping out the poor?

For Whom the PC Tolls

According to a recent CAA flyer, Ontario residents pay $4.26 billion in the form of gas tax, licences, and permits to the federal and provincial governments, ostensibly to pay for road construction and repair. Except that actual road expenditures are only $1.49 billion dollars. Now, with the opening of the 407 highway, and the new Omnibus bill, new forms of road tolls will be implemented.

Harris' Education Spending Policy

Recently reported in Xtra (Jan 30th, 1997):

Apparently Premier Mike "Supercuts" Harris hasn't always been so concerned about education spending.

Earlier this month his government announced plans to slash Ontario's school board trustees from 1,900 to about 700, make the job part-time and cut the annual pay to $5,000.

But according to a report in the Jan 14 Toronto Sun, when Harris himself was a trustee on the Nipissing board of Education he voted to hike his own monthly salary to $400 from $150 -- a 166 percent increase.

B.C.'s Books: Shooting the Hippo

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Copyright © 1996, 1997 by B.C. Holmes. Last updated February 2nd, 1997

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