The Fraser Institute announced that Tax Freedom Day for Ontario was yesterday, June 29th. This is a marked improvement from last year. Thank you Mr. Harris. Tax Freedom Day is calculated annually by the Institute where "all money earned prior to this day is required to pay the taxes imposed by the three levels of government - federal, provincial, and municipal." Nationally, Tax Freedom Day is July 1st; it occurs the latest in Quebec on July 13th.

Another, albeit more depressing, way to view our tax burden is through the lens of a typical day. So Jane and John Q. Taxpayer arrive at work in downtown Toronto around 8am. By the time they sip their first cup of coffee at 10:16am, they've spent over half the morning working for Ottawa. Then at 11:35am, seventy-nine minutes later, they've paid their taxes to the province. Jump another twenty minutes through the morning to 11:55am and their municipal burden is paid off. It's enough to make you want to call in sick! (But I'm not advocating this.)

So after working all morning for Paul Martin, Ernie Eves and Mel Lastman (or substitute your own mayor), it's time for a quick sandwich and then back to work to make money to pay the bills. This scenario represents the daily grind for the average Ontario taxpayer.

They toil away for nearly half the year to pay tribute to the three levels of government. An Ontario family with two or more individuals earning an average family income of $68,411 will pay 49 per cent of this income, $33,509, to all levels of government in 1999. This means $19,378 goes to the feds, $11,277 to the province and $2,854 to the local municipality. Far from a celebration, Tax Freedom Day is more like a wake, morning the loss of six months of labour.

Compared to other provinces, Ontario's Tax Freedom Day ranked seventh (tied with Saskatchewan), which is up from ninth place last year. Thank you Mr. Harris. But this is a touch misleading because other have-not provinces have much earlier Tax Freedom Days due to the fact that federal transfers from have provinces like Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario artificially lower their tax burden.

And we even beat our biggest rival on the tax competition front, Alberta. Take that Ralph Klein. Our Tax Freedom Day advanced by six days with Alberta nipping at our heels with a five-day improvement over last year.

In 1999, the average Ontario family will earn $1,625 more than last year. But wait, it gets better. This family will also pay $127 less in taxes.

On the positive side of the family paycheque, they will pay $320 less in income taxes, $53 less in profit taxes, $12 less in natural resource levies and $9 less in other taxes. On the flipside, the average Ontario family will also pay $188 more in sales taxes, $41 more in liquor and other sin taxes, and another $17 more in social security taxes like the fair share health care levy. Thank you Mr. Harris

In 1981, Ontarians paid 40.3% of their income in taxes and Tax Freedom Day fell on May 29. By 1992, the figure jumped to 44.6% and Tax Freedom Day moved to June 13. While this year's June 29th date represents progress for taxpayers, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

From income taxes to sales taxes to payroll taxes to property taxes to gas taxes to user fees right through to bracket creep, Ontarians still pay far too much tax. The CTF will continue to advocate for broad based tax relief as the best means to spur economic growth, job creation, and allow Ontarians to plan for their futures by investing and reducing record levels of personal debt.