Ottawa bullying the easiest targets

Re: Tax changes aimed at making systems fair: PM — Sept. 26

Let’s recap. Since the federal government seized power, it has eliminated the children’s fitness tax credit, eliminated the children’s arts tax credit, eliminated the tax credit for textbook expenses incurred by students, eliminated the tax credit for those using public transit to get to work, and eliminated the special tax treatment for stay-at-home spouses. Oh, they have added one new tax benefit … for teachers only.

The initiative to track down the wealthy taxpayers who are hiding their investments overseas, reportedly billions of dollars, appears to be a failure. The federal government’s idea of “hunting down” these tax evaders, is to politely ask them on a form whether they are holding investments outside the country.

The federal government also must realize that it has no resources to fight the publicly-traded international companies who are regularly shifting income around the world to pay less tax.

Now the federal government has set its sights on Canadian small businesses, which have been playing by the rules and paying their taxes. They are about to be rewarded with an unprecedented attack on their attempts to save for retirement and future investment in the economy. Under the proposed new rules, small businesses and their owners will face 73 per cent tax on some of their income. Public and international companies will pay less tax on their investment income than Canadian small businesses do. When it’s time to sell, it will be more expedient and profitable to sell one’s company to a public and/or international company than to one’s family members. All of this is being done to net what the government estimates is an extra $250 million a year.

It’s clear that the federal government has settled for the option of bullying the easiest, most compliant targets with the least amount of effort.

Can someone tell me when this will all start to sound fair? Chris Winters Kitchener