By Kathleen Gilbert and Steve Jalsevac
OTTAWA, November 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a move that would no longer force Canadians to have their tax payments go towards supporting undesired political causes, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in an economic update presented in Parliament today that he plans to end the current $1.95 per vote public subsidy to federal parties.
Major federal parties are now given $1.95 per year for each vote received in the last federal election. Since 14 million eligible voters cast their ballots in the last election, this translated to $28.6 million in taxpayers’ money given to the parties.
“The government intends to run the economy and run the budget in a responsible way,” Flaherty said Wednesday while announcing his decisions to keep government costs down and eliminate some expenses during the international economic crisis that is affecting all nations.
While the Conservative Party stands to lose the most amount of money from the measure, the change will lead to a smaller dent in their overall revenue since they receive more private and individual donations than the other, more left of center parties. The Calgary Herald reports that the subsidy accounted for about two thirds of the revenue of the Bloc Quebecois and Liberal parties. The Liberals, who instituted the policy when they were last in power are deeply concerned about the proposed change since they also have a massive debt to contend with.
Kevin Gaudet, acting Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF)commented, “We’re in tough economic times…”We’ve opposed the subsidy scheme since 2003 because political parties should have to seek voluntary donations from Canadians, not steal tax dollars from the public treasury.”
According to research provided by the CTF, for 2008, each party received:
Conservative Party of Canada – $10.5 Million
Liberal Party of Canada – $8.7 Million
NDP – $5.1 Million
Bloc Quebecois – $3.0 Million
Green Party – $1.3 Million
Jim Hughes, president of the national pro-life organization, Campaign Life Coalition, stated, “It is morally reprehensible that, in a supposedly democratic country, taxpayers have been forced to give money to political parties they don’t support. If the Conservatives table this measure, and it passes, it will be a great step towards liberty, equity and justice in Canada.” Hughes added, “it was only recently, under the rule of despot former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien, that Canada started to give taxpayer funds to political parties.”