Voters deserve a say before politicians hike their taxes.
Here’s how to do it. Premier Doug Ford should introduce legislation that makes sure taxpayers can vote in a referendum before the province hikes taxes on Ontarians.
All too often, politicians and bureaucrats in their ivory towers cook up tax increases to spring on unsuspecting taxpayers soon after they get elected, hoping voters will forget about the pain of higher tax bills before the next election rolls around.
If there’s a majority government running the show, politicians can force through tax hikes and taxpayers are stuck paying until the next election.
But it shouldn’t have to be that way.
Ontario taxpayers deserve protection from tax-and-spend politicians who hide their plans to hike taxes until they’re in their fancy Queen’s Park offices measuring their new drapes.
Ford can deliver that protection.
The need for taxpayer protection legislation in Ontario is real. It isn’t an abstract issue. The province has a long history of premiers springing tax hikes on hardworking families without ever getting their blessing to do so.
Right after he was elected in 2003 on a promise not to raise taxes or introduce any new ones, former premier Dalton McGuinty introduced a punishing health tax. That tax costs Ontarians billions of dollars every year and remains on the books to this day.
McGuinty’s successor, former premier Kathleen Wynne, took a page from her old boss’s playbook. She introduced a cap-and-trade carbon tax without first getting the permission of Ontario voters. Wynne also introduced a raft of new fees and an income tax hike on 1.8 million Ontarians.
Look beyond Ontario’s borders and you’ll see many other examples of surprise tax hikes. Premiers in literally half of Canada’s provinces have sprung sales tax hikes on unsuspecting voters without voters having a chance to first weigh in.
Politicians hide their intentions to raise taxes until after they get elected. And without taxpayer protection legislation, there’s nothing taxpayers can do about it other than wait until the next election to give the government the boot.
But there is a way to make sure that this kind of thing can’t happen: taxpayer protection legislation.
Here in Ontario, Ford is the man for the job. The Ford government should introduce powerful taxpayer protection legislation that prevents politicians from hiking taxes without getting a sign-off from voters.
Unlike his predecessors, Ford hasn’t raised taxes or introduced new ones. In fact, Ford has lowered taxes, first by scrapping Wynne’s cap-and-trade carbon tax and then by temporarily cutting the gas tax.
Ford can build on his legacy by ensuring that his successors can’t raise them on a whim.
He should introduce legislation that requires a referendum before the province hikes taxes or imposes one, such as a carbon tax.
There are already models in other provinces for Ford to follow.
Canada’s best taxpayer protection legislation success story is in Alberta.
Alberta has legislation on the books that stops any government from increasing taxes on individuals or businesses without first receiving permission from voters in a referendum.
This legislation prevents income and corporate tax hikes, as well as the introduction of a provincial sales tax.
In fact, Alberta’s Taxpayer Protection Act is the reason why it’s the only province that doesn’t have a provincial sales tax.
Manitoba has also had taxpayer protection legislation on the books for two decades. It guards against income, sales or payroll tax hikes and requires governments to put any proposed tax hike before voters in the form of a referendum. When former premier Greg Selinger sidestepped the legislation to raise the provincial sales tax, he got crushed in the next election.
Ford should copy Alberta’s and Manitoba’s homework.
History has shown that politicians can’t be trusted with a four-year blank cheque.
Voters need a means of stopping governments from springing tax hikes onto them. And taxpayer protection legislation is the best way to get there.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation