MR HARPER - RAISE UP THAT BAR!

So John Baird wants to know why there is a double standard on tolerating MPs who are too close with lobbyist and why the Liberals aren't held to the same standard as his Harpercrits. 

Well, assuming there is a double standard and the two cases are equally bad one reason might be that Harpercrits are the Government and therefore should be more accountable.  Maybe Canadians expect that the party in power, controlling how their taxes are spent, passing out contracts to their cronies, might possibly be held to a higher standard that the party that's been in the wilderness for what... 5 years now? 

Of course, knowing the Harpercrits as I do, that too is probably the Liberal's fault.

It'll be interesting to see if the party that forms the new Government in Britain is as arrogant and petty as our Minority Government has been. 

Somehow I think the Brit's will see a Government interested in raising the bar of expectations in the hopes of drawing in voters in the next election instead of perpetuating a climate of cynicism in order to drive most voters away from participating. 

I'm all in favour of Governments raising the bar, I wish Stephen Harper and his Government would up theirs.

HST - an immoral tax

Like most Canadians I don't like paying taxes but understand that if I continue to want Government services then shortfalls must be paid.

And I'd rather pay more on a sales tax I can avoid by not buying something than an across the board tax hike. 

As anyone who lived in Ontario during the Harris years knows the only way a government brings taxes down is by cutting services.  I don't want that. 

But the fundamental principle of taxes is that they're fairly applied and this is why I don’t like the HST. 

As of May 1 anyone buying a service now that they won’t receive until after July 1 is paying HST on that portion of the purchase (ie: plane trip).

Paying HST before July 1 is stupidest thing I've ever heard. 

The whole concept of sales tax is that it's based on the law at time of purchase, and applied to the purchase price. 

If the tax doesn't come into effect until July 1 then NO ONE should be paying it until July 1 on ANYTHING. 

If a service is given after July 1 but paid for before July 1 then tough beans, that's the way a SALES tax is suppose to work. 

The fact that ANYONE is paying HST now on ANYTHING is both wrong and immoral. 

It means the HST is not a tax on the sale of a good or service but instead is a tax on the delivery of a good or service. 

Since when did we start paying DELIVERY TAXES?  Who decided that?

I know that in a few months this is a moot point, once the HST comes in the purchase date will be after the tax is in effect and it’s a moot point, but the fact remains that this little preview is a nasty betrayal of the fundamental fair application of something that is simply a fact of modern life.

And it further erodes the confidence that people have in their Government.

That’s a big deal, because by and large Canada is one of only twenty nations on the planet where government services are provided without a requirement of bribes.

But as corruption seeps further into our society, as people lose more and more faith in our system, the possibility that one day very soon “greasing the wheels” may be the only way to get your driver’s license renewed becomes an increasing possibility.  And bribes are a tax that no one controls or benefits from, except the corrupt.