Words are the sugar coating for the ideas which people swallow. That's why politicians are so adept at sugar-coating taxes by dressing them up as non-taxes, and by linking them to sacred causes. Words like "premium," "levy," "surcharge" and "fee" help Canadians to swallow the fact that they work from January 1 to June 27 to pay taxes to feed the appetites of three levels of government. In 2002, the average Canadian started working for herself on June 28. All her labour prior to that date went towards paying GST, income taxes, property taxes, corporate taxes, fuel taxes, and a host of levies, premiums, and charges. Clever politicians invoke good causes to justify tax increases, like health care, roads, vulnerable children, and clean drinking water. This sounds compelling, but doesn't explain why these things can't be funded by the billions and billions of tax dollars which governments are already collecting.

How would people respond to a tax that was not attached to a noble cause, and that was not camouflaged as a "premium" or "fee"?

What if the Alberta government introduced a "per person flat tax" of $528 per year, to be paid by every Albertan earning $16,000 or more per year? What if the only people to be fully exempt from this $528 flat tax would be those earning $7,500 or less per year? What if a family with three children, earning just $34,250 per year, had to pay $1,056 annually for this flat tax? What if families were charged this $1,056 flat tax in order to finance the highest level of government spending in Canada? What if this flat tax had to be paid with "after-tax" dollars, in addition to federal and provincial income taxes? What if this tax cost $13 million per year to collect? And what if the revenues from this flat tax simply flowed into General Revenues, along with every other provincial tax?

No doubt there would be public outrage over such an injustice. Advocates of big government would denounce this tax as regressive. Small-‘c' conservatives would denounce this tax as unnecessary, in light of Alberta spending more (per person) on government programs than other Canadian provinces. Albertans from across the political spectrum would resent the $13 million in annual collection costs.

Only one thing stops Albertans from being outraged by the health care premium tax, and that is its name. The sugar-coating of "health care premium" makes it possible to swallow this bitter tax pill, which costs individuals $528 per year and families $1,056 per year. First this tax is called a "premium," and then it's linked to the hallowed cause of health care, which puts it beyond criticism or questioning. It's a double-whammy of brilliant political salesmanship.

Time for a reality check.

The $913 million which Albertans pay in health care premium taxes each year flow straight into General Revenues, according to page 42 of Alberta's 2003-04 Fiscal Plan. Health Minister Gary Mar has admitted to Dave Rutherford, while thousands of taxpayers listened, that health care premiums are a tax. It isn't voluntary, like the premium one chooses to pay to an insurance company for a chosen policy. Anyone who thinks differently should try not paying this "premium" and watch the government garnish your wages, seize your car and put a lien on your property - until you cough up the amount owing. The results are no different from when a person fails to pay personal income tax.

Further, Alberta' annual health care budget is $7.35 billion - more than eight times what Albertans pay in health care premium taxes. But by creating the false impression that these "premiums" pay for health care, this tax actually kills demand for real reform to the health care system. If more Albertans knew that health care spending has doubled in eight years, and that it will eat up half of Alberta's budget by 2008, there would be more support for changes to the health care system. But this tax stands in the way of greater awareness.

There are five reasons to abolish the health care premium tax.

First, the Alberta government doesn't need this extra $913 million in revenues. Abolishing this tax would require a spending cut of just 4%, after which Alberta would still be spending more (per person) on government programs than B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and other provinces. Second, it costs $13 million in added bureaucracy to collect this tax - enough money to purchase four MRI machines. Third, this tax is regressive, taking money away from lower-income and middle-income Albertans who can least afford it. This is fundamentally different from Alberta's single-rate 10% income tax, which is progressive without being punitive. Fourth, this tax impedes real health care reform by creating the illusion that the so-called "premiums" pay for health care, when in fact they don't. Fifth, abolishing this tax would more than reverse the tax increases Premier Klein imposed on Albertans in 2002. It is a way for Premier Klein to honour his pre-election promise that "the only way taxes are going is down."