Most of us are familiar with the outlaws of the late 1800s in the US. Jesse James and the Youngers gang come to mind. Butch Cassidy was another. Trains, banks and stagecoaches were their favourite targets for robberies.
Do we have similar rascals today? Of course we do. Todays’ scamps are different though. They are elected by the people to serve the citizens of the province but once in office, the gang leader and his team of MLA’s seem to be in a hurry to be modern day Jesse James and Butch Cassidy types.
How do they operate? Well they create a budget and promptly pounce on the opportunity to raise the Provincial Sales Tax from 5% to 6%. Then they gleefully decide to apply it to the sale of used cars and your auto insurance premiums, your house insurance premiums, to labor charges and to your restaurant meals.
After that painful pick pocket trick, they decide to lie in wait for the next opportunity to attack you and your wallet. Legally of course.
Before we look at their next bandit ploy, here is a question. Are you experiencing any pressure on your finances because of inflation? Have you been forced to adjust your personal budget because increased costs are squeezing you. No doubt the answer is a resounding “yes”.
You would expect your government to be sympathetic to the plight of the residents of this province, would you not? Y You would NOT expect them to add to your cost of living, would you? Surely they would not be that cruel. You wouldn’t imagine that they would behave like Jesse and Butch, would you?
Hold on. Perhaps you have not seen the latest effort on the part of your government to loot your money pouch. One should note first that Jesse James and Butch Cassidy are not part of the plan. But the style is similar and the results are the same. You are poorer.
So how does it work? It is basically an ambush. But you don’t have to raise your hands. Just reach for your wallet because on October 1, 2022, the PST will be broadened and applied to recreation, entertainment and general activities and events. But no masked bandits will show up. No one will point a gun at you.
The government’s agents will simply demand that you pay 6% MORE to go to a hockey game or movie or rodeo or museum or trade show or Roughrider game or Moose Jaw Miller baseball game or local Arts Council performance. Golfing and curling and bowling get hit too. And your visit to the gym will sting because it will be 6% more.
Even the swimming pool is not left out. Yes, next year your dip in the pool on a hot day will cost 6% more because of this expanded tax.
In simple words, your elected reps are going to tax your “fun times”….your enjoyments….your recreation. Is that not INFLATIONARY? It is embarrassing to think how we elect people to serve us and once they get to their hideout in Regina, they behave like those bad guys from the 1800s.
The expansion defies common sense. It is shameful. It is disgraceful.
We would be better off having Jesse James and Butch Cassidy terrorizing our province.
Jim Stangel
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
