When it comes to next week's federal budget, don't be hoodwinked into believing that Paul Martin is cutting your taxes - it's all a shell game. Consider the following facts.

Fact #1: The Reform Party dropped a bombshell in Question Period this week by correctly pointing out that the combined effects of CPP premium increases and "bracket creep" outpaced the meagre tax relief that was offered in the 1998 budget.

It was the CTF that first pointed this out in our pre-budget submission last November. Of course the Finance Committee ignored this fact - you wouldn't want to let the facts get in the way of good political spin. Remember too, that the elimination of the 3% federal surtax for income earners under $50,000 only went into effect on July 1, 1998. So you will still pay the 3% surtax for the first half of 1998.

Fact #2: A study by the Vanier Institute of the family reveals that the income tax burden on Canadian families has doubled in the last 30 years. Income taxes now chew up at least 22% of the family budget.

Moreover, the Institute notes that we are racking up huge bills to offset our stagnating incomes. Our consumer credit and mortgage debt hit record levels in 1997. Again, the CTF pointed out similar statistics drawn from OECD figures last November.

Fact #3: New figures from StatsCan's 1997 survey of household spending show that personal income taxes are the largest single household expenditure. Personal income taxes account for 21 cents of every household dollar spent.

After taxes, we spend 20 cents of each dollar on shelter, 12 cents on transportation, and 11 cents on food.

StatsCan also found that our spending on education is up 19% while healthcare is up 15%. We are spending more on health insurance premiums, pharmaceutical products and medicines.

So for the same amount of personal income taxes, we're getting less in services. As governments continue to delist services and coverage of various health products we are purchasing supplementary healthcare coverage and the result is an increase in premiums. Paying more to get less is fast becoming a trademark of taxation in Canada.

Fact #4: The Finance Minister is lying to Canadians when it comes to bracket creep. In a letter (February 4, 1999) to Ms. K Lalonde of Oakbank, Manitoba, Paul Martin says "- partial indexation is a relatively minor factor in the rise of tax revenues since 1994." Excuse me! The House of Commons Finance Committee, dominated with Paul Martin's handpicked supporters, estimates that partial indexation has thrown 840,000 low income Canadian families onto the tax rolls since 1985.

The Caledon Institute estimates that 3.5 million Canadians have been pushed onto the tax rolls or into higher tax brackets due to bracket creep. Various organizations like C.D. Howe now estimate that almost 14% of the federal personal income tax take each year, some $10 billion, is due to bracket creep. That's some minor factor! Martin also tells Ms. Lalonde that " we did not - and still do not - have the luxury of moving toward a fully indexed tax system."

So there we have it: tax relief is a luxury but $145 million of spending on stupid Millennium initiatives like 10-storey dinosaurs in Alberta or 35 foot tree sculptures in PEI or landscaping an image of St. Jean Baptiste in Quebec is necessary. For more examples of government spending stupidity, visit the Millennium bureau website at: www.millennium.gc.ca. You might as well, you're paying for it.

Paul Martin should hang his head in shame for misleading Canadian taxpayers and for his government's asinine spending. So don't expect tax relief, it's a "luxury" we can't afford!