The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), a national lobby group, put out a Taxpayers Federation Press Release saying that the, “morning after Mr. Flaherty’s announcement the CTF received a call in Ottawa from the department of finance. The government official wanted to assure us the 2007 Budget will contain additional tax relief for all Canadians. And should we believe this? Increasingly it appears voters will go to the polls in the spring. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will need to give Canadians a powerful reason to re-elect his government. Significantly lower personal taxes will prove to be a powerful vote getter.”

While everyone is talking about the pain and burden of new taxes, the CTF concludes that “Ottawa’s overall tax bite has been reduced. As such, the finance minister’s policy prescription is – on balance – supported by the CTF.”

The group acknowledges that “The investments of many, many Canadians were impacted when the stock market tumbled after Oct. 31.”

But their sense is that the Minister of Financed has “corrected a corporate tax discrepancy by imposing a new tax. His reforms end the tax advantage for some investment instruments but lowers taxes on businesses as a whole. The pension splitting benefits seniors and opens a new avenue for family-friendly income splitting.”

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