A friend of mine tells me whenever he crosses the US border he rolls down the window, takes a deep breath and howls "freedom." The picture is far less dramatic than a heroic scene from a Mel Gibson or a Kevin Costner flick, but it illustrates the pent-up frustrations shared by many Canadians with high taxes, low average incomes and a bargain-basement dollar.

That Americans are more free in terms of tax obligations should come as no surprise. Tax Freedom Day for the US last year came nearly a month earlier than in Canada.

But the day is fast approaching when Canadians can share in the same jubilant and liberating feeling. The Fraser Institute's Tax Freedom Day is around the corner. It's the day when Canadian taxpayers finally start to spend the money they earned on their families and themselves having worked from January through the end of June to pay taxes for three layers of government.

To the far left, Tax Freedom Day has always been something of a joke. Marc Lee, a researcher from Todd's organization took issue with Fraser's signature event rejecting the notion that "taxes restrict freedom." On the contrary, Lee operates on the twisted perversion that high taxes and big government deliver more freedom.

In Lee's World, only the security and abundance of an all-encompassing welfare state can set citizens free from the alienation of independence, choice and self-sufficiency.

Since I fashion myself something of a rugged individualist displeased with government intrusion in nearly every facet of my life, I must be living in 'false consciousness.' Were I as enlightened as Lee, I would be in agreement that the ever-expanding welfare state and high taxes are the preconditions to freedom.

Having spun the Soviet definition of freedom, it's surprising that the
critics of Tax Freedom Day even bother to nit pick at its methodological assumptions. If by their own definition more taxes equals more freedom, then why do critics of Tax Freedom Day go out of their way to roll back the actual date, as to make it appear that the tax load isn't so bad after all? The simple answer is that no one in their right mind really believes that rubbish unless they have something to gain by income redistribution.

Another one of Lee's petty complaints is that the benefits gained from government in exchange for taxes is "conveniently swept under [Fraser's] ideological carpet." Let's pretend for a second that Lee isn't ideological.

Next, it's worth repeating the words of the study's author. "Tax Freedom Day, according to Michael Walker, "looks at the price paid for a product - government. It has nothing to say about the quality of the product, how much of it each of us receives, or whether or not we get our money's worth." It's plain poor sportsmanship to attack a study for not reporting on something that's beyond the study's scope.

Members of the Flat Earth Society can deny taxes are too high until their blue in the face. The rest of us can crack open the bubbly and delight knowing that our onerous tax obligations for this year are through.