The Ontario Liberals are promising not to raise taxes, and balance the budget, while simultaneously hammering on the Conservatives for running a secret multi-billion dollar deficit. Applying a little logic leads one to the following conclusions:
- Either Ernie Eves is telling the truth, and there is no deficit, or
- Dalton McGuinty is lying when he says he won’t raise taxes. If there is a deficit, he can’t balance the budget without raising more revenue somehow.
I was wavering before the debate. But Eves made some points that resonated strongly with me. Perhaps the strongest was that ordinary people who make $60,000 per year aren’t rich. That "wealth" surtax has been a source of irritation for me for years. Let’s get rid of it. Putting aside Eves management (or lack) of crises like SARS, and the Hydro blackout, what this party stands for economically is what I believe in. Keep money in people’s pockets, and enterprise will create prosperity. You can’t tax away those dollars and expect the government to create prosperity.
Perhaps Ernie is right. Perhaps Dalton doesn’t get it.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
