HOW BEAUTIFUL CANADA..

HOW BEAUTIFUL CANADA COULD BE
A LAND OF THE PURE AND THE FREE

A tribute to my country on Canada Day 2009
With a take-off from the Song “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be”

By Victor Drummond ©
July 1rst 2009

Perhaps it was only in my head: a false impression from the start, but until I realized my son had been taxed on phantom income – money he never saw – to the point where he had to remortgage his home – to pay this legalized extortion -- I believed Canada was the equivalent of the promised land.

As a naïve teen-ager I joined the Canadian Army, prepared to follow my older brother already in the thick of battle, in the defence of this Country. Had anyone attempted to tell me then that one day I would need to plead with my own government to obtain, fair taxation and/or justice I would have called them a Nazi fifth columnist.

Yet today after two years of asking, cajoling, and pleading with my elected representatives, in the Federal Government, to cease using their power to legally levy ruinous, unjustified, taxes on honest, hard-working Canadians I would have to admit, with an apology, the Nazi fifth columnist would have been right.

Those in power that recognized the unfairness and injustice sufficiently as to create a “Tax Remission Order” (TRO), to provide some measure of “fair taxation” to a mere 37 former employees of the SDL Optics/JDSU Corporation, then deny the same treatment to thousands of similar victims – have in the process made an outrageous tax situation even worse.

The only recourse left open to similar victims excluded from the benefits of the TRO are: (1) to appeal individually to a Revenue Canada “Chief of Appeals Officer” who may, or may not, grant the victim a favourable decision, or (2) Individually apply to the “Tax Court of Canada” for a favourable decision,
which is a crap shoot at the best of times and without the hiring of a good tax lawyer is not very likely to produce a favourable decision, or (3) Apply individually, or as a Class-Action group, to have the case tried by the Supreme Court of Canada. Again a tax lawyer improves the prospects of obtaining a favourable ruling but more often than not such action results in sending good money after bad.

Revenue Canada Web pages declare these avenues equate to “Fair” treatment of the victimized taxpayers -- it is nothing more than an attempt to palm off a one-at-a-time appeal process – which is inherently unfair – as a reasonably “fair” system. (Which it is not)

Although our Minister of Finance, our Minister of Justice, and our Prime Minister are all perfectly aware of the injustice, unfairness and outrageous aspects of extorting money from honest, hard-working Canadians on the excuse they could have taken a gain – but missed the opportunity –
not one of these minions of Decency, Honesty and “Fairness” dares to even address the problem let alone take action to correct it.

So how would you feel like celebrating Canada’s 142nd Dominion Day/Canada Day event if you were now living in a mortgage house that should have been mortgage free years ago?

Or you were still paying back money borrowed to pay taxes levied on income money you never saw?

Or your children are now deprived of a higher education because your savings have been used up paying tax on phantom income?

Or you spend many sleepless nights, in a state of anxiety, for fear taxes you have deferred will become payable due to circumstances beyond your control?

We could all raise our glass of aqua-pura and say to our government: “Here’s mud in your eye.” and mean it literally.

Canada could be the Beautiful Country our politicians tell us that it is – if they only had the moxie to put an end to taxing honest, hard-working Canadians into financial disaster -- on the excuse they had momentarily an opportunity to take a profit.

Where no real gain has been realized, in tangible, exchangeable form, then there is no justification for demanding a percentage of that imaginary money in the form of hard cash.

Until our elected federal representatives find the decency, the will, and the courage to take action to fix this problem I will raise my glass on Canada Day and salute:- “Here’s Mud in your eye.” and reflect on the Beautiful Place Canada Should, and, Could Be – but isn’t.

The Americans found a way to “fix” their defective phantom tax legislation and compensate those victimized by it – so are American politicians more honest, more decent, more capable that ours?

It certainly looks that way -- and that is no compliment to our federal politicians.

Ref:- www.freformAMT.org and www.cfet.ca to compare the U.S. and Canadian corrective action to date.

Victor Drummond ©