Kyle Carruthers column on the child benefit cheques only referred to the increase of $60/month to the existing program thus a casual reader might think parents of children under six will only get $720/year when in fact they will now be getting $1920.00/year. ($160x12). (They were already getting $100/month).
Moreover, his implying that the net benefit of the program is only $1.19 is political deception.
Mr. Carruthers referred to the elimination of the Child Tax Credit (which he claimed was worth about $338.25) as if this proved the government was giving with one hand and taking away with the other so that the net of the $720 benefit increase was only $381.75.
Yet the Liberals and NDP have long been howling that the Child Tax Credit did not provide any benefit at all to people who pay little or no taxes like single mothers. So is Mr. Carruthers now suggesting that the tax credit which led to so many complaints of ‘tax unfairness’ should be retained? He can’t have it both ways.
As for the issue of taxes which will have to be paid on the extra income, why not? This is neither a great revelation nor a disqualifier of the program benefits. Everyone with children who qualify gets the benefit, not just those who make enough money to take advantage of tax deductions, and everyone fortunate enough to have high incomes will have to give some of the benefit back on their taxes.
Is this not fair? Even high income people, however, can minimize the tax clawback through the new income splitting provision as well as by depositing the money into a tax free savings account or a registered education plan which also provides tax free savings.
Mr. Carruthers resurrected the Liberals famous ‘beer and popcorn’ remark by which he is once again saying that parents can not be trusted to use the child benefit money for their children. Rather he thinks the government should keep control of OUR money and spend it for us. A Liberal or NDP government would do just that.
Mr. Carruthers dismissed the child benefit program as only providing ‘a few more bucks in parents’ pockets, and dismissed the intelligence of parents who might thus be swayed to vote Conservative. In fact, parents will actually have a lot more bucks in their pockets and should be well disposed toward voting Conservative to make sure they keep it.
We are not stupid, Mr. Carruthers, and neither is our Conservative government which, contrary to the Liberals and NDP, believes in our intelligence and our ability to use the child benefit cheques to provide for and manage our own families.
Francine Thivierge
Whitehorse