It is Better to Be Poor: Ontario Premier McGuinty

McGuinty is a joke. You know it, I know it. He is using the oldest political trick in the book: blame others. Still, the fact that he is complaining that Ontario is comparatively rich makes me angry. By McGuinty's logic, it is better to be poor because you pay less tax. By McGuinty's logic, Ottawa and Toronto should separate from Ontario because Lanark County et. al. are milking them.

 

Here are serious suggestions to make the "have not" provinces richer, and Ontario poorer, without sending cash payments via equalisation:

 

-Move the capital's government jobs across the Ottawa river to Gatineau (You pay taxes where you live, not where you work. Still, more federal civil servents would chose to live in Quebec and pay taxes in Quebec).

 

-Remove duty from foreign made cars (there would be less incentive to buy cars made in Ontario, salaries in Ontario would go down, car buyers in places like NewBrunswick would have more money to spend locally, like on provincial taxes.)

 

-Make banking and telecommunication provincial jurisdictions. (More relatively high paying banking and telecommunication jobs in NB, PEI and Manitoba, fewer in Ontario).

 

-Impose capital gains tax on homes (by taxing capital gain windfalls in places like Toronto and Calgary, the federal government could reduce federal income and sales taxes across the country, allowing provinces to raise theirs).

 

-Add inheritances to income tax calculation (dito)

 

-Finance the employment insurance program via taxes instead of via premiums.

 

-Spend slightly more in the have not provinces (government jobs, make work projects, etc...) 

 

-As part of the employment insurance program, pay for people to move and or travel to Ontario and Alberta to find work.

 

-Allow Americans to work in Canada (and hopefully, Canadians in the USA). (In the Maritimes, fishing season does not include winter, and there are plenty of Americans who would benefit by working accross to border in Ontario).

 

So I say fine, let's get rid of the equalisation program. Might not be good for Ontario, or the country, but it might cut down on Dalton McGuity's whining.

 

My somewhat related posts:

-Lazy bums ;

-Irritating twits: Dalton McGuinty et. al. ;

-39 per cent of NB budget is federal cash! ;

-Ontario thinks BusinessWeek Readers are Brain Dead ;

-The Federal Government Should Not Give Money to Toronto ;

-John Tory is Trilingual ;

-Quebec Now Has Carbon Tax. Ontario Does Nothing ;

-Time For a Capital Gains Tax On Homes ;

 

-If I Ran Canada