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THE FAMILY PAYS AND PAYS

There is no doubt that Canadians are gouged by our tax system. According to the Vancouver-based think-tank, the Fraser Institute, taxes are still on the rise. Canadians now, on average, pay 47% of their income in taxes. Compared to the average Canadian family of 40 years ago, taxes on today's families have climbed by 1,076%. In 1961 the average family had an income of $5,000 and paid 33.5% of that income in taxes. In 2003, the average Canadian family earned $58,782 per annum and paid out $27,640 in taxes, or 47%.

The amount of a family's income spent on taxes actually depends on where the family lives. The heaviest tax burden is in Quebec at 49.8%, followed closely by BC 49.6%. The lowest tax burden is Newfoundland at 43.3% of income, followed by PEI 43.6% and then Alberta at 45.1%, New Brunswick at 45.3%, Nova Scotia at 45.6%, Saskatchewan at 46.6%, Manitoba at 47.7% and Ontario at 48%.

Historically the Atlantic provinces have lower average tax rates, partly due to the fact that a large part of their provincial revenues comes from federal transfer programmes by which money is transferred to them from the wealthier provinces. That is, those provinces with lower average tax rates come at the expense of the higher tax rates imposed on residents in the wealthier provinces.

Having to pay such high taxes is made even more frustrating by the fact that the federal government, according to Auditor-General Sheila Fraser, has been using our tax money to further its own political agenda and remunerate Liberal party friends in its $250 million sponsorship scam.

Sadly, the consequence of the Liberal party's abuse of the taxpayers is that families are left with even less disposable income. No wonder our birth rate is plummeting.

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