- CTF Responds to Fraser Institute Calculation of June 29th Tax Freedom Day -

OTTAWA: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today responded to news that Tax Freedom Day for Canada occurs tomorrow, June 29th. According to calculations made by the Fraser Institute, this is a five-day improvement over last year when Tax Freedom Day occurred on July 4th.

Each year, the Fraser Institute calculates Tax Freedom Day as the day of the year when Canadians finally start working for themselves. Prior to this date, all money earned by Canadians is required to pay the taxes, fees and levies imposed by all three orders of government - federal, provincial, and municipal. The original release and calculations can be found at www.fraserinstitute.ca.

"Even with historic federal and provincial tax relief measures, the Institute notes that Canadians are still working for government until 12:56 pm of each working day before they start working for themselves," stated CTF federal director Walter Robinson. "In this context, there is definitely no free lunch."

Robinson went on to note, "our American neighbours celebrated Tax Freedom Day on May 3rd and even our British cousins with a big-spending Labour government celebrated their Tax Freedom Day on June 10th."

"Two weeks ago Statistics Canada reported that Ottawa and the provinces racked up a collective $25.7 billion over-taxation surplus last year. Moreover, a recent National Post/CanWest Global national poll showed that 89% of Canadians think their tax burden is still too high and 61% believe their taxes continue to creep up," added Robinson.

"On this hot Canada Day weekend, Canadians will be thirsting for more than a cool beverage. They will be looking for all orders of government to continue with and accelerate plans for further tax relief measures," concluded Robinson.