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Claresholm Local Press 1995-01-04 - 1995-12-27
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Date
1995-06-28
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Transcript
4 Claresholm Local Press Wednesday, June 28, 1995 Opinion You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. Lincoln Dumb and dumber hose are both names and adjectives for whoever plant- ed the lye bombs at 7-Eleven Friday. They re smart enough to build the bombs and dumb enough to do it. Somebody, please, pay some attention to these people. Disapproval and name calling in the local newspaper s editorial column is not useful or needed attention. If they re bored they should find something to do while contemplat- ing how boring prison will be and how attractive they ll look with faces covered in scar tissue from caustic lye burns. GCS Tax freedom ve always liked the idea behind Michael IMPRESSIONS Walker s Tax role eo Freedom Day. Gordon It makes it Scott very clear how much of our year we spend working to pay government and how much time we spend working for ourselves. The first time I took notice of Tax Freedom Day five or six years ago Alberta s was the latest in the country sometime in early August. That meant for more than seven months of the year we toiled to Pay taxes to government and only the last five months of income were ours to spend in any way we saw fit. It made the medieval system of tithing seem positively progressive. Then you only had to turn over 10 per cent of your income to your feudal lord and landowner in the form of whatever pro- duce you might have available pigs, bags of grain, baskets (your first born ... . Oops Sorry That's the present, not the past.) This year Walker s Fraser Institute says Albertans started working for themselves on June 3 last year it was June 10 it s moving in the right direction I'd say. The measurement includes as comprehensive a list of taxes as possible including natural resource taxes, licence and other fees to government, gaso- line, liquor, tobacco taxes, sales and personal income taxes. The Canadian average for Tax Freedom Day remained the same this year as last year at June 18. The only other two provinces to move backward, that is pay less tax this year compared to last, were Saskatchewan and B.C., but B.C. still paid for 20 more days up to June 23 and Saskatchewan with this year s latest day will pay until July 2. That comparison kind of makes you feel good to be a taxpayer living in Alberta doesn t it? Nova Scotia had the earliest day at May 18 unchanged from last year. All other provinces added one or two more days of working strictly to Pay taxes. WHEN I SUGGEST WE GO FER ALITTLE HOLIDAY PRIVE, HOW P 1 KNOW TH WHOLE. COUNTRY WUZ SUGGESTIN IT TOOzZ io a oe Bill C-68 and the costs of gun control A great deal has been said about the government's new gun control Bill. So much so, in fact, that it has become almost impossible to disentangle the truth from the rhetoric spewed by both pro- and anti-gun control factions. Most of the debate has revolved around civil rights, the effect (or lack thereof) that gun control has on crime, and ideological convictions about how society should live. Lost somewhere in the netherworld of this debate had been the effect that Bill C-68 will have on taxpayers. No one will deny that it is going to cost taxpayers more; the only question is how much? There are several answers. Justice Minister Rock estimates that his new law will cost 183.9 million over five years, a number which includes the costs of maintaining the old system ( 65 million), and of licenc- ing all firearm owners and registering their weapons ( 85 million). An addi- tional 33.9 million is needed to cover other costs such as public education, police training, and research. To pay for all this the Minister pro- poses to charge gun owners a myriad of LET S TALK j TAXES Mitchel Gray fees including a 60 licence fee every five years and a registration certificate charge ranging anywhere from 0 to 60. In theory, Rock hopes to pull in around 154.7 million a tax on gun owners. But gun owners aren t the only ones who will be picking up the tab. The government's own figures indicate that the taxpayers will have to contribute 29.2 million to cover the shortfall between the fees and the costs. Several other estimates of the costs have been done. The National Firearms Association (NFA) pegs the price tag at around 665 million. According to the NFA, 5.8 million firearms to be registered at 100 each is 580 million. Add the cost of re- issuing new type registrations for 1.2 million currently registered firearms, and you re over 600 million... While the NFA does not include other costs as the Department of Justice did, it does point out that there will be additional expenses for computer upgrades. The non-partisan Fraser Institute arrives at an even higher number. Based on a United Nations estimate of seven million firearms in Canada, they calculate that registration will cost at least 492 million. They tack on anoth- er 125 million for lost wages and transportation costs incurred by firearms owners taking time off work to register their guns. How can the government's numbers be so different from the others? It all boils down to the registration portion of the program. The federal govern- ment claims it currently costs 38.56 to issue a single registration certificate. Local government costs, however, boost the tab to 82.69. Furthermore, the Justice Department recommends using a more costly system, bringing the bill to 104.02. This is the basis of Continued on Page 5 + Department of National Firearms Fraser Institute Justice Association Costs to maintain 65.0 million 64.0 million 65.0 million systems already in place a tee es (assumption) (assumption) Firearms Registration System (Bill C-68) 85.0 million 600 million s 492.0 million Other costs under Bill C-68* 33.9 million no estimate 125.0 million TOTAL 183.9million 665.0 million 682.0 million * Other costs include public education, training (police, judiciary, business), policy development, research and assess- ment, the Firearms Control Task Group, lost wages and travel expenses. -Editor/Publisher Gordon Scott Published by EMS PRESS LTD. at Box 520, Claresholm, AB TOL OTO 4913 - 2 Street West Phone (403) 625-4474 FAX (403) 625-2828 Publications Mail Registration No. 0274 An Independent Weekly newepaper Serving the Claresholm Area Continuously Since 1929. NO PORTION OF THIS PAPER MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER. Office: Roxanne Thompson Vicki McLaughlin Printing: Roy Pachal Production: Judy Van Amerongen Reporter: Chris Miller Sales Representative: Karen Bauer
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Image 553 (1995-06-28), from microfilm reel 553, (CU11206956). Courtesy of Early Alberta Newspapers Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.