Show Us the Surplus Money

October 12, 2005

Last week’s promise by the federal Liberal government to give back some of your hard-earned money in the form of a surplus or energy rebate is an elaborate illusion.

Lest you believe I’m dashing your hopes for a fat rebate cheque simply for the sake of partisan political warfare, don’t take my word for it.

The Moncton Times and Transcript writes that Paul Martin’s surplus rebate “is a cynical, meaningless gimmick designed to fool citizens into believing the government has heard their concerns. The scheme stinks from whatever angle one looks at it.”

In the Toronto Star, James Travers says, “Like the invisible friend, the surplus is entirely a creature of its creator and subject to Ottawa's mood swings. The government can adjust the surplus to fit its needs and priorities as well as the interests of the Liberal party. With a few turns of the spending tap, it can be made to grow, shrink or, yikes, even disappear.”

“The Martin government has turned hiding revenue into an art form. If you ever get a rebate from Ottawa, and that's a big if, its novelty value will likely exceed its face value,” says Paul Stanway in the Calgary Sun.

Edmonton Journal columnist Lorne Gunter cautions, “How likely do you think it is that -- given a choice between more spending and larger rebates -- this gang will choose cheques to beleaguered taxpayers over more subsidies to, say, keep Bombardier afloat?”

Why are so many national journalists in this country so scathing about Paul Martin’s federal surplus rebate plan? They can add.

The Surplus Allocation Act will distribute one-third of any surplus to Canadian taxpayers, but only IF the surplus exceeds $3-billion.

This year’s surplus was sitting at $6-billion until a flurry of Liberal accounting maneuvers and spending magically shrunk it to a $1.6-billion surplus. So at a time when federal coffers are actually awash with cash, Canadians would not have received a rebate.

Even if the Liberals had left the $6-billion surplus untouched, the result would have been a rebate of just $30 per Canadian.

The Liberals also announced an energy rebate this week, supposedly designed to help offset high fuel costs for low income Canadians. Yet less than 10 percent of Canadians will qualify for the rebate, including many seniors living on fixed incomes.

Both of these rebate programs bring back memories of the disastrous home heating rebate scheme in 2000-2001 that saw prisoners and dead people receiving rebate cheques from the federal Liberals.

Plus, the electors’ list, from which the government will get your mailing address, is so inaccurate it’s failed to list some residents of this riding who have lived in the same house for 40 years.

With this boondoggle-in-the-waiting, it’s just not realistic to tell anyone that the ‘cheque is in the mail’.

Ultimately, this is another [dismal] Liberal attempt to buy your vote with your own money. Money they should not have taken in the first place. As I’ve said many times before, “What is a surplus to Liberals, is over-taxation to Conservatives.”

-30-