Canada's federal, provincial and municipal governments are financed by just one group - not three groups - of taxpayers. But the way some politicians talk, you might think that there was a separate group of "municipal taxpayers" to go after, now that the "provincial taxpayers" and the "federal taxpayers" are worn out.

After breaking his election promise to Albertans that "the only way taxes are going is down," Premier Klein is now musing about giving cities and towns more taxing powers. Not necessarily a bad idea, if provincial taxes are reduced as much as municipal taxes are increased. But as long as the provincial tax hikes from the March 19 budget are not repealed, giving municipalities more taxing power is simply opening the door for even more tax increases.

But what about Alberta's under-funded cities and towns, unable to maintain their roads and build new infrastructure Should they not get more money

Yes, but only after two questions have been answered.

First, what should government be doing Put differently, which tasks cannot be performed by individuals, families, faith-based groups, charities, voluntary organizations and the private sector

Second, if something should be done by government, which level of government is best suited to accomplishing that task

Building and maintaining public roads for the common good is probably a task which government should perform, since it would be difficult for individuals, families, faith-based groups, charities, and voluntary organizations to do so. And when it comes to setting priorities regarding which roads should be built and maintained (and when, and how), the municipality can probably do a better job than the province or the federal government.

So yes, if municipalities need more money for transportation and infrastructure, they should get it. But considering that Canadians are grossly overtaxed compared to taxpayers in other industrialized nations, municipal tax increases to pay for infrastructure are out of the question. If crumbling roads really need to be fixed, then the federal and provincial governments really need to review what they are doing, and answer that first question about the role of government.

Federally, hundreds of millions of our tax dollars have already been spent on the useless bureaucratic exercise of trying to force law-abiding citizens to register their duck guns and deer rifles. Every year, billions of dollars of our hard-earned money is handed out to businesses.

Provincially, Alberta's spending on government programs has gone up 45% since 1996, compared to only 11% inflation and 12% population growth over the same period.

If municipal transport and infrastructure is an underfunded priority, the federal and provincial governments should cut spending in lower priority areas, and turn the savings over to towns and cities to pay for roads. Albertans pay $700 million per year in federal fuel tax (10 cents per litre) and get none of that back for infrastructure. If even half of that money went to municipalities, cities and towns would not be in any danger of crumbling.

But giving more taxing powers to municipalities is wrong, unless the province cuts provincial taxes. Avoiding more tax increases requires asking the two tough questions.