Finance Minister Joe Oliver Should BUTT OUT of Ontario’s affairs ~ Carol Goar Apart from the fact that he has NO Jurisdiction over provincial finances, Oliver’s intervention was unhelpful in three ways. He ignored the fact that Ontarians HAD JUST REJECTED HIS FORMULA, championed by defeated Conservative leader Tim Hudak. He ignored the fact that Ontario is struggling to replace its manufacturing base. And he ignored the fact that Ontario, unlike Ottawa, does NOT have resource revenues pouring into its coffers. But there was a bigger oversight in Oliver’s unsolicited advice. HE DID NOT OFFER TO LIFT A FINGER. He did NOT IDENTIFY A SINGLE STEP he could take to lighten Ontario’s fiscal load and get the Canadian national economy firing on all cylinders. SO THE STAR WILL. To be as fair as possible to federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver, these measures are consistent with his party’s ideology and compatible with his commitment to balance the federal budget next year. ONE >> Close the multitude of tax loopholes that allow the country’s wealthy elite to stash income in shell companies that pay low corporate taxes; hide assets in offshore tax havens; write off personal expenses and exploit all the tax credits, deductions, refunds and allowances in Canada’s 3,236-page Income Tax Act. The late Jim Flaherty began to tighten the rules. In his 2013 budget speech he said : “Tax fairness is important to ordinary hard-working Canadians. They know that when everyone pays their fair share, it helps us keep taxes low for everyone. To that end, we are taking additional actions to close loopholes.” Eighty-five tax loopholes are now gone. If Oliver PICKED UP THE PACE, BILLIONS OF FOREGONE DOLLARS Would Flow Into Federal And Provincial Coffers. Not only would this ease Ontario’s fiscal woes; it would Narrow the Gap between rich and poor, which impairs Ontario’s efforts to channel money into productive uses, create jobs and get its economy moving. TWO >> PAY AS MUCH ATTENTION TO ONTARIO’S MINERAL WEALTH AS ALBERTA’S OIL RESERVES. Oliver is one of the biggest boosters of pipeline construction to get Alberta’s landlocked bitumen to foreign markets. He has displayed FAR LESS ENTHUSIASM for unlocking the vast deposits of chromite, nickel, copper and platinum deposits in Ontario’s Ring of Fire, the treasure chest in the James Bay lowlands. He is clearly aware of its potential; he has mentioned it in a couple of speeches. But WHEN IT COMES TO SUPPORTING THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO OPEN UP THE REMOTE REGION, HE HAS DONE NOTHING. THREE >> Fix Ottawa’s Unfair Equalization System. Oliver CONTINUES TO IGNORED Ontario’s claims that it was being shortchanged by hundreds of millions under the convoluted formula Ottawa uses to ensure the financial burdens of all the provinces are comparable. But now Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Frechette has confirmed Ontario is being underpaid by $640 million this year. That revenue would allow the province to knock 5 per cent off its deficit. There is much more the federal government could do — from expanding its restrictive employment insurance program to making good on its promises to improve job training. But that doesn’t seem to be GREASE-BALL Joe Oliver’s priority. HIS INTENT Apparently IS TO HarperCON-HECTOR, NOT HELP !!
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 18:24:25 +0000