A TIME FOR...

A TIME FOR RENEWED HOPE
A commentary on the significance of Easter 2008
To victims of the Canadian taxable benefit legislation.
By Victor Drummond ©
March 2008


Christians the world over celebrate Easter week-end as an annual reminder of a better life to come.

They look forward to the day when anxiety, oppression, abuse and distress -- of all kinds -- will be removed from their daily lives – and true equality, fairness and justice will be the norm.

People of every race creed and culture have hopes of achieving a better living environment.
A time -- and place -- free of all forms of evil, illness and death.

For Christians that place is named Heaven. For the ancient Vikings it is named Valhalla.
For many North American First Nations people is called a Happy Hunting Ground.
For many others it is named Paradise. They all have one thing in common.

All of these idyllic places are beyond the reach of living breathing humans.
So in this life everyone strives to create – or find -- their own best place to live.

For many people -- today -- the closest thing on earth -- to Paradise/Heaven/Valhalla/Happy Hunting Ground -- is the United States of America, (USA) or Canada, (Ca).

To be sure the history of both these country’s include events of violence, atrocities, oppression, and depression. But they both strive to achieve the closest to an ideal living conditions as it possible to realize.

Under influence of the newcomers – originally mainly from Europe and the Orient -- both Canada and the USA have surpassed most other – longer established -- societies both in power -- and standard of living. And this supremacy was achieved in less than 300 years.

In all fairness much of this rapid financial growth -- and social evolution -- in North America is due to the tremendous amount and variety of the continent’s natural resources.

Immigrants to Canada and the USA left their original homeland for various reasons.
Many – like the Pilgrims – left for reasons of religious oppression. Others came here because they were looking for greater opportunities to become successful entrepreneurs.

By far the greater majority of the original new comers -- to North America -- arrived with a determined mind-set to establish a better social structure with a democratic form of government.

Undoubtedly Canada’s founding politicians intended this country’s citizens to have the best possible standard of living. A land of freedom. A land of equal opportunity. A land where ordinary people are entitled to the protection and support of their elected representatives.

And for the most part they succeeded in building a Nation with one of the best living standards in the world.

But unfortunately humans are not perfect and neither are some items of legislation our lawmakers implement.

A perfect example of an insidious, abusive and unjust law -- presently operating in Canada -- is legislation that authorizes huge fines – under the guise of a tax -- on phantom income – imposed on honest, hard working Canadians.

A penalty that financially devastates many of its victims.

Even professional magicians, such as David Copperfield -- and/or Houdini -- would be hard pressed to produce tons -- of real money -- out of thin air.

But our government appears to believe ordinary Canadians -- who participated in ESPP/ESO plans -- are quite capable of doing just that.

What is there in the Ottawa air -- and/or water -- that produces such a hallucination in our government officials?

A week prior to this Easter week-end – some saner members of our government – participated in a Finance Committee Meeting, (FINA), to focus on the issue of the SDL/JDSU Tax Remission Order, (TRO).

According to the transcript -- of that meeting -- a review of the taxable benefit law is under way – and the need to change that law is being studied.

It should take all of one heartbeat to reach that decision.

Is the FINA meeting a prelude to resurrection of the RIGHT to “Fair and Equal Taxes” for All Canadians?

Is it the equivalent to a taxation Good Friday?

Every victim of the defective taxable benefit legislation – in fact every decent Canadian – is hoping that it is.

And when the tax equivalent of Easter Sunday arrives may our RIGHT to truly fair and equal taxes – dead for at least six years now -- be restored to us all alive and well.

Victor Drummond ©