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Parliamentary salaries, carbon tax and liquor tax are all set to increase on Thursday

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Canadian taxpayers seem to be ridiculous on April 1st.

Not only do we get into the hook of parliamentary salary increases, but we also expect a 33% increase in federal carbon taxes.

And if it drives us to drink, we will pay more for the joy of beer, wine, or shots.

Welcome to get cash from Ottawa on April 1st. And most importantly, because it’s all automatic, the MP doesn’t have to do anything other than collect cash for the Federal Treasury and bank accounts.

Your average MP has already earned $ 182,600 for what Congress arrogantly calls “basic session compensation.”

Most of us would call it a heck of salary, but as of Thursday, the pot will be sweeter as the MP reserves a $ 3,200 salary increase.

Indeed, some argue that the increase of only 1.7% has barely caught up with inflation. In fact, it may be a wage cut, but it’s more than many Canadians received last year.

MP already earns 3.4 times the average Canadian income, so I think we shouldn’t have shelved automatic salary increases this year.

Not doing that last year gives them some leeway — the pandemic is new, parliamentarians focus on the file and draft and pass such a law when there is an urgent problem. I didn’t have time.

But this year I had some time, but I didn’t.

Turkey does not vote for Christmas dinners and MPs do not vote for wage cuts.

It’s not time for Canadians to be willing to accept higher wages and tax increases for parliamentarians. If there is anything Ottawa wants to spend money on, most Canadians seem willing to hand over most of their salary to cover it.

As of Thursday, the carbon tax will increase from $ 30 per ton to $ 40 per ton. That is, gas will rise by at least 2.21 cents per liter, natural gas to warm the house will rise by 1.96 cents per cubic meter, and the cost of propane will rise. Because your barbecue rises 1.55 cents per liter.

All of these figures are from the federal government and do not include the GST charged in addition to the tax increase.

Taxes on taxes, that’s the Canadian way.

We seem to celebrate such a move.

Therefore, it is not a shock to see another tax increase on April 1st.

From the 2017 budget, the federal government has decided that the federal sales tax on alcohol should be raised in step with the consumer price index.

The CPI is essentially an indicator of inflation, and the government has decided that the tax rate should be associated with it rather than as a percentage.

Therefore, as inflation rises, so does the tax on liquor — 6.7% from 2017.

That may not sound like much, but it brings over $ 1.2 billion in annual revenue and only increases over the years.

Canadians may be suffering from a pandemic, but it’s clear that the federal government isn’t.

They have found a way to tax you more to warm your home, drive your car, cook your food and enjoy a drink with that burger-all giving themselves a great salary increase.

So don’t worry if you make a joke to someone else on April 1st of this year. I’m already kidding you.

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Lily: Canadians are stupid on April 1st of this year as taxes and parliamentary wages go up