PHASING OUT THE VOTE TAX

The CTF has long-held the view that political parties, not taxpayers, should fund their own signs, attack ads and flyers before, after and during election campaigns. As such, we have fought the per-vote subsidy (a.k.a ‘the vote tax’) since it was announced in 2003 by the Chrétien government.

Originally, parties were each year handed $1.75 per vote they received in the last election; fully indexed, it peaked in 2011 at $2.04 per vote (this is on top of taxpayer reimbursement of election expenses and massive tax credits – far more generous than what is available to charities).

The CTF appeared before parliamentary committees, wrote commentaries and issued news releases with each Elections Canada report showing the amounts being handed out and demanding the practice end.

But while the public didn’t like the Vote Tax, most of the politicians did. Who can forget the first attempt to eliminate the Vote Tax in late 2008 that resulted in a near government take-over by the three opposition parties.

Commendably, the government did not abandon its commitment and, now with a majority, announced as part of the 2011 federal budget a three-year phase out of the tax which will save taxpayers $30 million annually.