The myth about free everything

DEAR EDITOR:

Re: “Child care funding works well in Scandinavian countries,” by Joy Lang (letters, July 17).

Scandinavia has wonderful free daycare, only it’s not “free.” Income tax rates are 55.9% for Denmark, 56.9% for Finland and 57.2% for Sweden and Vat (GST) adds another 20 to 25%.

If Canadians want all this wonderful “free” stuff, be prepared to pay for it, because nothing in life is free. The costs are just shifted to “everybody” with the cost of tax collection and government administration added on top.

In Scandinavia, a beer is more than $10 and a pizza is more than $40, so prepare to pay more for everything as well as the higher taxes.

Steen Petersen Nanaimo