IF I DO IT -- IT IS THEFT..

IF I DO IT; IT IS THEFT – WHEN WE DO IT; IT IS LEGAL
A commentary on the Canadian Government taxing
honest, hard-working Canadians on phantom income.

by Victor Drummond ©
September 2009

On at least two occasions, in the past month, a paper was deposited in my home mail box courtesy of the Honourable Inky Mark C.P. M.P. for the riding of Dauphine, Swan River, Marquette, Manitoba.

The paper carried no “To” Address and no stamp. So I conclude it was hand delivered to my mail box by a local volunteer working for the Federal Conservative Party of Canada, Economic Action Plan Committee.

The return address is postage free compliments of the franking privilege granted to mail addressed to M.P.s using a House of Commons address. This strikes me as an abuse of the franking rights given all M.P.s as it is our tax money that is paying for this political party promotion which is nothing more or less than a pre-election campaign for votes.

Both papers featured a Conservative Government initiative intended to influence the reader to check off a political party leaders name as being the one -- on the right track -- to restore economic stability to Canada, and in this case protect Canadians from being ripped-off by unscrupulous criminals.

Of course right alongside the row of political leaders names is the smiling picture of non-other than the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime minister of Canada.

The reader is invited to check off the name of the party leader who is their choice as the leader who is on the right track. Political leaders named are: Michael Ignatieff (Liberal), Stephen Harper (Conservative), Jack Layton (NDP) and Elizabeth May (Green Party)

Along the lower edge of the page is the Conservative Party Slogan: “STAND UP FOR CANADA”.

The political pitch of this latest page is: the protection of Canadian families against loss of their life’s saving through “Identity Theft”.

Following is the text of the pitch:

“Canadian families work hard and play by the rules. If a thief uses your identity to steal your hard-earned savings, the financial effects could be devastating."

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative government are helping Canadians keep their identities safer by strengthening the laws against identity theft."

'We are introducing legislation to catch criminals before the crimes take place.
We are making the possession of personal identity a crime punishable by a five year sentence behind bars."

"We are also cracking down on those who traffic in personal information and government issued ID’s."

"The Conservative government is taking the right action to keep Canadians safer from all criminals."

So long as the government persists in taxing, honest, hard-working Canadians on fictional “Earned Income” this amounts to nothing more or less than the pot calling the kettle black.

What difference is there if your life’s savings are stolen by an identity thief or if they are taxed away on the basis of “earned Income” that was neither “earned” nor “income”? What real difference is there? Your life’s savings are gone in either case and in both cases on a pretext basis.

Actually you may be better off by having an identity thief clean out your bank account as you can now buy insurance against this kind of robbery but you have absolutely no protection against the Canadian government.

When our government taxes you into a state of poverty the only recourse you have is to apply for tax relief as a “hardship case” and hope for a favourable decision by the Canada Revenue Agency Chief of Appeals Officer.
A crap shoot at the best of times. And the recently created "Taxpayers Ombudsman" has no authority to enforce your rights.

What is the government’s purpose in passing legislation to protect Canadian families -- that work hard and play by the rules -- from thieves and then financially devastate thousands of those same families with horrendous taxes levied on fictional income?

If our government is really interested in passing legislation to protect the financial resources of honest, hard-working Canadians, and their families, then they should begin by cleaning up their own back-yard.

They must introduce legislation to place company shares, traded on a conventional stock exchange in the classification where they belong: i.e. as a capital equity, not temporarily in the classification of a taxable benefit where they can be “deemed” (ASSUMED) to be one thing at one time, (earned income), and something else the next time, (a stand alone capital loss).

Although our Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance persists in declaring the Canadian Income Tax Laws relating to Incentive Share Option (ISO’s) are “fair” the United States Government and most Canadians disagree.

The U.S. government finally admitted, in October 2008, that taxing ISO holders on phantom income was not fair and not justified under any circumstances.

Consequently the U.S. government have amended their defective Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Legislation thereby revoking all taxes and related penalties levied on phantom income. They made the correction retroactive and are currently in process of compensating their taxpayers who have already been victimized by the flawed tax legislation and application policy.

Canada’s defective taxable benefit legislation, as applied to our equivalent ISO participants, is no different in it’s quota of injustice and unfairness than the U.S.A. AMT taxation policy. But so far Canada’s government will not acknowledge their phantom tax policy is unfair and have ignored all victims’ appeals to correct the problem.

Journalist Don Cayo, stated the situation perfectly in his article: “Change the law don’t just mask the problem” which appeared in the Vancouver Sun, Newspaper, on January 18, 2008. This one sentence tells it the way it should be:

“The answer is to change the law. To tax only actual profits that stockholders make, not some fictional amount tied to an arbitrary date.”

So which Canadian federal political leader is “STANDING UP FOR CANADIANS” on the issue of protecting hard-working Canadians who play by the rules – safeguarding their life’s savings from vanishing like the morning mist?

“None of the above”. That is who. And it is all perfectly legal.

It is time for Canadian voters to remind our elected government who they work for and who is paying their better than average salaries, perks, and pensions.

See you at the voting polls of the next federal election O’Grady

Victor Drummond ©