The CTF recently appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs to advocate measures for inclusion in the 2000 Budget. The official title of our submission was Cut Tomorrow's Taxes: Reduce Debt Today. Looking back on how the submission and question and answer session unfolded, perhaps a more appropriate title would have been, Hey Mr. Eves, Steal This Plan.

It is clear that a government that once prided itself on bringing the "revolution" to Queen's Park is now comfortably a perch as the "institution" at Queen's Park. Adoption of our recommendations would bring the revolutionary zeal back to the Government's current lacklustre and steady as she goes, don't rock the boat policy agenda.

 

Action on the Debt: That the government institute a legislated schedule of debt reduction. Beginning in 2000/2001, a minimum amount of 5% of total revenues should be allocated as a line item in the public accounts for reduction of the provincial debt.

Following this recommendation would ensure that a minimum of $3 billion was set aside to reduce the provincial debt which now stands at $121.2 billion or $20,763 for each Ontario taxpayer. Currently the government has earmarked $500 million per year for debt. At this rate it would take over 240 years to reduce the debt to zero. Asking the grandchildren of the grandchildren of our grandchildren to pay off "our" debt is tantamount to inter-generational tax evasion.

While some may argue that this is ambitious, our submission also notes that the government's reliance on non-traditional revenue sources (fees, penalties, liquor retailing profits and gambling revenues) has jumped from $5.2 billion (10.6% of total provincial revenues) in 95/96 to $7.7 billion (13.3% of revenues) for the current fiscal year. The government has ample room to cut more debt and reduce it quicker.

 

Privatization. The government must review all agencies, boards, and commissions once during the life of each legislature to determine whether they continue to serve a useful public policy purpose.

Entities that still serve a public policy purpose should be supported. Those that do not should be devolved to other levels of government or community agencies, be outright privatized or simply wound down. Reestablishment of an Office for the Minister of Privatization (a senior Minister with cross-departmental authority to embark on privatization initiatives is essential) is also imperative.

 

Ending Provincial Bracket Creep. The government should return provincial bracket creep revenues back to taxpayers in the form of further tax cuts or tax return adjustments until such time as it sets its own tax policy and can fully index all credits and thresholds to inflation.

While bracket creep is the result of federal tax policy, provincial governments, especially Ontario, have made off like bandits. And silent provincial tax increases due to bracket creep were never put to a vote in the Ontario legislature. Since 1989 Ontario taxpayers have paid an extra $10.8 billion in provincial income taxes due to bracket creep. In 1999 alone, we forked over an extra $1.25 billion to Ernie Eves and company due to bracket creep. This silent annual tax increase runs contrary to the spirit of Ontario's Taxpayer Protection Legislation.

Mr. Eves should not only steal our plan, his government should stop stealing from today's taxpayers through bracket creep and give tomorrow's taxpayers a break by reducing provincial debt.