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As a tax accountant and financial advisor, spring is a busy time. And for many of the people I talk to and the clients I work with, it was a stressful time.
Everything is more expensive. It is getting tougher for families to make ends meet. People are hurting and this current Trudeau government is doing nothing to ease the pain when the reality is, they easily could.
Contrary to the talking points we are hearing from the Liberal caucus and our local MPs, the carbon tax means more than just a tax on how much gas goes in your car or how you heat your house.
The truth is, the carbon tax is attached to everything. Every item of food that finds its way to a shelf at the grocery store is taxed. Every farmer who plants, grows and harvests a crop is taxed. Every restaurant that cooks food is taxed.
Anything that's shipped north is taxed, and that's almost everything we buy. The carbon tax impacts every person, residence and business. And that tax is felt, cascaded and forwarded all back onto consumers and households.
It's a big part of why everything is more expensive. I will leave fiscal policy for another day.
The Liberals will tell you that we're getting back a lot more than we pay. If that's the case, why can't we find anyone who feels better off or ahead now that Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is in place?
The reality is, when you factor in all the layers, we're paying more (a lot more in the North) than we're getting back. It's not a rebate — it's a political deepfake by a government that just doesn't listen or relate to regular Canadians.
This government is lost. Local leadership is absent. Axe the tax, call an election and let's get back to the common sense approach to Canada and Sudbury deserve.
Fred Slade
Former federal Conservative MP candidate
Greater Sudbury