As it does every year, the Fraser Institute recently published the results of its calculations to determine Tax Freedom Day in every province of Canada. This day is the one when we stop paying for the taxes that we owe to each level of government and when we start working for ourselves.
And as we all know, there are more than a handful of these contributions! The most important ones that are taken into account in these calculations are the income tax, property taxes, consumer taxes, business taxes, contributions to health care and other social programs, tariffs on imports, licence fees, taxes on alcohol and tobacco, natural resources fees, gas taxes, etc.
According to Fraser Institute researchers, Tax Freedom Day arrives on Friday June 12 for Quebecers this year. Only the citizens of Newfoundland-and-Labrador (June 16) and Saskatchewan (June 20) need more time to fulfil their obligations toward the taxman. Albertans are the ones who work the shortest period of time for governments; they have been free since May 16.
We can rejoice that this day falls four days earlier than last year in Quebec, thanks to some tax cuts adopted by the federal as well as the provincial government. It’s also one month earlier than a decade ago. This means we are going in the right direction.
But is it normal that we have to work almost half of the year for governments, and only the other half to provide for all our other needs? What we “spend” to get public services is more than any other spending item, including housing and food. In a way, we are like part-time slaves: until Tax Freedom Day, we have no other choice but to work for our “masters”, who thus control this period of our life.
Of course, we would have to pay for health care, for our children’s education, or to get pensions and highways, even if these services were provided by the private sector instead of the government. But the fundamental question is: do we get our money’s worth?
Governments have kept on growing and have attained gigantic proportions in the 20th century. They practically intervene in every aspect of our lives today and force us to financially contribute to various programs that are often badly managed, unnecessary or that the private sector could very well take care of.
That’s why we need to remain vigilant and continue to demand more fiscal freedom. Instead of intervening everywhere, our governments should concentrate on essential services and do it in the most efficient way possible, by taking as little contributions from us as possible. A place where we can dispose of ourselves and the fruits of our labour only during six months every year cannot be a genuinely free society.