Canada should value the individual more

There's much talk about the GST cut back these days and specifically the attempt by Quebec to somehow prevent Quebecers from benefiting from it. I don't know what they're up to but it wouldn't surprise me one bit. Quebec is desperate for cash.

Let's be clear: I'm no tax expert (but I play one on a blog) however I am a "I know what's in my wallet" expert and this is what I know: it's better to cut personal income taxes.

The whole idea of taxes is rather simple for me. Either you believe the strength and spirit of the individual to do what's right and how they see fit or you are willing to let government make that decision for you.

In Canada, we have concluded that sacrificing income in the name of collective compassion is acceptable. We've effectively outsourced the job of compassionate existence to the government.

What has it got us? No closer to a just society than most countries and one gigantic bureaucracy run by civil servants who lack imagination and innovation. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah we're lucky not to be the United States.

Most reasonable people would have no reservation in paying taxes on certain programs that we all benefit from. Pool our assets to ensure we maintain a social conscience. I'm cool with that.

We all have a stake in the overall health of the collective good. Where most inquiring minds break is with the excessive demands put on us to manage social problems we can't possibly solve. This means examining public policy with a clear and objective mind free of preconceived notions about romantic idealism. It means critically and soberly assessing if we're getting bang for our buck. Throwing money at something because it is ordained "good" is not necessarily progressive.

It's one thing to say "tax me to ensure a just society" and quite another to turn a blind eye on how we progress and deal with human flaws and vices. Quite frankly in Canada, that's what we seem to do. Check it out, we have a larger bureaucracy than France and Italy with half the population.

We often joke among my friends that Canada is nothing but one gigantic legalized organized crime unit - without the killing of course. Um, that we know of.

But here's the difference: you can run from the mob. You can't run and hide from big brother. We further find it a rich exercise in intellectualism whenever we read Canadians smugly scold Americans for various problems - loss of civil liberties for example - present in their country while never giving thought to the shortcomings and near communist state of our own affairs. Canadians don't have that much individual and free choice when one ponders it hard enough.

The omnipotence and omnipresence of the government that tell us what to do and think on a constant but subtle level should be cause for concern even for mild mannered liberals.

It does seem as though we open up a department for every social problem we want to fix. This is where I break with all the rhetoric. I believe that the individual has to - no wait, MUST - step in. To constantly rely on government retards innovation and personal growth. It prevents us from truly creating a self-sustaining and free standing civil society.

I don't know what goes on in the United States. I don't live there. What I do know is what I am told by friends and family and from what I read. It's not unreasonable to conclude they are no worse or better than us. They simply have a different and imperfect system that reflects their cultural and historical experience. That they don't have "universal health care" doesn't mean they are less compassionate than Canadians or Europeans for that matter.

What they lack in government intervention (which make no mistake has increased over the years) they make up for at the individual level. I think this is where people become attracted to the United States. The opportunity for innovative solutions to problems is far higher than it is here. Americans rely less on government to tackle problems - though there is an army of people who want to change this.

To me, bigger government under the guise of superiour social conscious is a long term myth.

Time to apply an old Chinese adage" "store the wealth within the people." That applies not only to income but culture as well. A lost concept in contemporary Canada indeed.

Canada has done well. It can do better.

Much better.