Non-traditional families feel left out
The Daily Courier (Kelowna)
November 5, 2007
Letters By: Neil Cadger

Re: GST cut and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's vision.

The recent cut to the GST announced by the Conservative government looks like a calculated, cynical attempt to dupe taxpayers into believing that Harper and company actually care about the people they work for. The prime minister likes to present himself as a man driven by principles of family values. Perhaps he should take a look at who these families really are and not who he thinks they should be.

How many families have single parents? Adding the previous child care money to the GST cut, parents with children under six will now have something like $150 a month to help pay for daycare, which costs five times that amount.

For families who can afford one stay-at-home parent, the money will cover the cost of an evening out and a baby sitter. But for single parents earning $40,000 annually, it means that unless they can find the other money somewhere, children will be left with friends or extended family and undoubtedly some will be left at home alone during working hours.

I guess the Conservative logic is that this will encourage the parent to stay at home and look after the child -- quite a challenge for a single-income taxpayer and a curious employment policy for a government that likes to see itself as encouraging good, old-fashioned hard work.

Or maybe they just want the parent to feel guilty about a relationship gone wrong. For the sake of the child, and not to punish the parent, any surplus tax money piling up in Ottawa should go straight to a subsidized day care program across Canada.

If Harper cares about the children (who will soon be adults in our midst) he will stop trying to buy our votes with a pizza a month (the amount of GST savings for a typical family) and will look after the people he claims to represent.