Dispell the Darkness

LIGHT A CANDLE
A Commentary on Hand Wringing versus Action
By Victor Drummond ©
August 2007

Every Canadian, of voting age, has heard these sayings:-


“The Darkest Hour is Just before the dawn.”
“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”
“Into Every Life a Little Rain must fall.”

And each saying relates to negative and distressful events that all people experience
at various stages of their lives. People encounter problems of every kind imaginable.

A Little Rain:-

Some that are unavoidable, such as teething, colicky digestion, acne and a host of personal physical attributes that do not fit our self image. Then there are those problems we could avoid if we had foreknowledge of the hazards involved.

We could avoid catching colds -- if we knew who had one -- and kept clear of those people while they are at the infectious stage. This same ounce of prevention applies to a host of other infectious diseases.

With the development of anti-histamine medications people with infectious are now impossible to detect – until it is too late. This is one instance where one person’s food is another person’s poison.

According to another old saying there are only two things that are certain in life and the recurring one is “Taxes”

Everyone, who earns a living, has an income, or at least who has pocket money to buy things from a store, is paying taxes. This is a situation everyone is familiar with, to some extent, and as long as everyone is treated the same – the situation is tolerated.

The Darkest Hour:-

And like an infectious disease, if we know the hazards in advance we can avoid paying taxes that only apply to unique situations – such as taxes imposed on profits that never happened and on “Income” that never was – and never will be.

Most victims of these avoidable and unwarranted taxes were blind-sided when the “Taxable Benefits”, (TB), tax levy actually hit them.

Unfortunately being an unwitting victim, (of a unique tax situation, such as participating in an employer’s shares incentive rewards plans, e.g. (ESPP) and/or (ESO) and then being burdened with unexpected/avoidable taxes), does not solve the problem. And the consequences can, and do, place the victims in financial duress.

Things seldom look darker than when your home is threatened with seizure and your financial future is obscured by a deferred tax debt that exceeds your ability to pay. Thousands of innocent, hard working and honest Canadians suddenly found themselves burdened with huge taxes on money they never received.

The gloom deepens further when the victims find (that) the government has granted special tax relief, for a few of their members, but denied the same relief to the rest of them. Any reasonable person would be outraged at this situation. I know I am.

Light a candle:-

Again any reasonable person would, and should be able to, expect their member of parliament to take prompt corrective action to have the rights of their constituents, to fair and equal taxation, fully restored. (If not – Why not?)

That didn’t happen. Not even when the unfair atrocity was widely publicized in newspaper media -- did any government official even voice an objection to this atrocity -- or propose corrective action. (Why not?)

Very few, if any, of those victimized are independently wealthy. They are not Conrad Blacks – they are mainly ordinary people trying to maintain a modest standard of living. Average citizens who’s hopes and dreams of modest luxuries are now lost in the gloom of an unwarranted financial penalty.

The whole purpose of this blog page is to focus attention on the plight on Canada’s Tax victims and tarnished image of Canada due to Canadians denied a free, fair and just society.

Question:- Should the problem be fixed? Answer:- Yes Undoubtedly.

Question:-Who’s responsibility should it be to implement proper corrective action?

Answer:- In order of importance:-

(1)- The government of Canada currently in power. Although the problem evolved
during the reign of the Liberal Party only the current Members of Parliament
forming the government in power has the authority to introduce changes to
the Income Tax Act that would provide blanket correction of the
defective “Taxable Benefits” laws now in place.

(2)- Failing spontaneous effective corrective action, on the part of the government
in power, the only power left, that can force the issue, is in the hands of
the Canadian voter.

The Law Makers, of our “Fair” land are the sitting members of parliament –
BUT – the King Makers are the voters of Canada. You have the power to
bring this travesty of justice to a fair and proper conclusion permanently.

Question:- What would a proper corrective action consist of?

Answer:- The only fair and just solution is to revise the Canadian Income Tax Act
Regulations that deal with “Taxable Benefits” such that a reward or gift
of intangible value, such as market shares, which have no intrinsic value
of their own do not become taxable until, or unless, the property is sold
or iquidated for money or traded for something that has intrinsic value.

Solutions implemented, and/or proposed, that require the mass of Taxable
Benfits victims to appeal their case individually is NOT A PROPER FIX.

For Example:-

(a) The “Tax Court of Canada” is no solution and (b) the creation of a
powerless Fair Tax Ombudsman armed with a “Taxpayers Bill of Rights”
do absolutely nothing to provide fair treatment to all TB victims.

If anything these impromptu fixes only aggravate the problem – because
at the whim of some authority -- one victim will be treated one way -- and
another identical victim mistreated the other way.

Request:- If you recognize the unfairness, and injustice that the present Taxable
Benefit legislation is perpetuating and you wish to “LIGHT A CANDLE”
to dispel the darkness, for thousands of Canadians like yourself – then
use your power as a King Maker – notify all those, who solicit your vote
in the next Federal Election, – Commit to correcting the Income Tax
Laws of Canada – or NO VOTE.

You can make a difference and you can keep the ball rolling by sending
the address of this blog page to every Canadian you know of voting
age. This no cost action will:- Light your own candle.

Victor Drummond ©