“Message to Martin: You Took Too Much Money, Now Give It Back!”

November 17 , 2004

To the surprise of almost no one, the federal Liberal government reported this week that, oops, it did it again. It took more of your hard earned tax dollars than it really needed this year. So much so, that the Martin government will have a whopping $8.9-billion dollars leftover.

Now take out your weekly pay stubs over the past year and look at the amount of federal taxes that were deducted. Think of all the groceries, gas and other necessities your family could have bought with that money. Some of that money Paul Martin took from your household he didn’t really need. So what’s the Prime Minister going to do with it now? Before you even think it, let me tell you straight out – he’s not giving it back!

No, when Finance Minister Ralph Goodale issued his Economic and Fiscal Update this past Monday boasting - practically bragging - about the huge surplus, Mr. Martin quickly quashed any hopes of tax cuts, stating, “We’re going to accomplish our program first.”

That would be the “Liberal Program”. The program with the primary objective of spending as much of your tax dollars as possible. And that is one of the fundamental differences between Liberals and Conservatives. The Liberals look at a surplus and start thinking of ways to spend billions of your dollars with very little, if any, net effect for the average Canadian family that’s actually footing the bill. For Conservatives, a surplus is an error known as over-taxation.

To say the Liberal number-crunchers “underestimated” is an understatement. It was just a few months back that the Liberals were crying poor. During the election campaign, part of the excuse given by Mr. Martin for not proposing tax cuts was his claim that the surplus would be only $1.9-billion. In contrast, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was proposing policies and fiscal plans with numbers based upon reality.

Mr. Harper, like many Canadians, was well aware that the Liberals had underestimated the federal surplus for each of the last seven years. Conservatives knew then what the Liberals had to confess this week … that there is plenty of fiscal room to provide tax relief to Canadian families, while simultaneously addressing important national priorities like health care and national defence.

The Liberals will have now overtaxed Canadians by $61-billion over a six-year period. Just three weeks ago, Paul Martin and his government committed to support the Conservative amendment to the Throne Speech calling for tax relief for low and modest income Canadian families. Mr. Goodale’s economic report should have been the Liberals’ “green light” to proceed with this tax relief. Instead, Mr. Martin has defiantly chosen to proceed with his own agenda. Clearly, his Throne Speech pledge is to be yet another broken promise.

In the new year, Mr. Goodale will get set to tell you how much of your money he needs to pay his government’s way through the 2005-06 fiscal year. On your behalf, Conservative MPs will continue to demand that he return your money to you!

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