"If you want to see what real fiscal conservatism looks like, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has a plan to balance the budget in three years."

-- Andrew Coyne, National editor
Maclean's Magazine, January 2010

"Whether one recognizes it or not, the average hard-working person in this country owes a huge debt of gratitude to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. That organization regularly points out instances of governments, at all three levels, wasting our tax dollars and digging this country further into debt."

-- Red Deer Advocate, January 2010

"The CTF [has] for years been doing yeoman's work watchdogging inflated parliamentary pensions."

-- Vancouver Sun, January 2006

"Who says the private sector isn't more efficient? In fact, the events of last week would seem to make a compelling case for privatizing Alberta's opposition, in as much as we have one.  The Alberta office of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) was doing the work that 11 opposition MLAs were unable -- or unwilling, most likely -- to do; namely, expose the outrageous shenanigans that culminated in massive pay raises for the premier and his cabinet. The swift and comprehensive news release issued by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation was exactly what should have been churned out by an opposition party worthy of it's title. If the two opposition parties think they can inspire excitement among Albertans with the prospect of unification, maybe they should first figure out why a bare-bones advocacy group is doing a better job of holding this government accountable."

-- Ron Breakenridge, Calgary Herald, June 2008

"The Canadian Taxpayers Federation dominated coverage of this year's budget."

-- Ken Whyte, editor-in-chief Maclean's magazine, May 2006

"When the CTF speaks, I feel warned already. At least I used to in my old life."

Roy Romanow
Former Saskatchewan Premier and
head of the Royal Commisssion on the Future of Health Care
March 2002

"Only the Canadian Taxpayers Federation denounced the [Bombardier] deal."

-- Montreal Gazette, May 2005

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation led the fight to end [bracket] creep.”

-- Edmonton Journal, February 2000

“Here we are, with a Conservative government preparing to run a string of ‘stimulative’ deficits the likes of which we haven’t seen since the early 1990s ... urged on by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the Conference Board of Canada, and the editorial board of The Globe and Mail. Dissent, at least in public, has been confined to free-market think tanks [and] the Canadian Taxpayers Federation."

-- Maclean’s magazine, Cover Story, January 2009

“The budget got a nod from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation who’ve been hounding Martin for years … for an end to bracket creep.”

-- Winnipeg Sun, February 2000 

“The CTF has a track record when it comes to successfully tilting at windmills.”

-- Editorial, Montreal Gazette, 2003

“Tax rage … from a fringe issue nurtured by bodies such as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation … it has become both more mainstream and passionate.”

-- National Post, April 1999 

“Its members are united not by any political ideology, but by anger over government waste, incompetence, largesse and the inevitable result – ever increasing taxes.”

-- Regina Leader Post, September 1990

“The group is becoming both an instigator and leader of a growing taxpayers’ revolt.”

-- Calgary Herald, April 1993 

“In the increasingly crowded media universe, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation stands out. Through rigorous research, an uncanny ‘nose for news’ and dogged determination, they have had impact far greater than many much larger and better funded policy advocates.”

-- Mike Duffy, CTV News Net, February 2000

“The Fuller Brush of fiscal rectitude”

-- Ottawa Citizen, March 1994 

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation have been tremendous marketers of ideas about taxation at the retail level that we have sought, not always as successfully, to develop at the wholesale level.”

Michael Walker
Founder, Fraser Institute
March 2000

“It’s like a Playboy magazine for taxpayers. Titillating, eyebrow raising, a bit shocking. The pages of The Taxpayer are bountiful with information and numbers that rivet attention.”

-- Vancouver Sun, 1992

“In the battle of good and evil, waged daily over our tax dollars, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has emerged as the country’s most persistent, intelligent and tireless champion. The CTF deserves our thanks."

-- John Gormley, Talkshow host for NTR in Saskatoon and CJME Regina, February 2000 

“L’organisme [CTF] fait bien ses devoirs.”

-- La Presse, May 1993 

“This taxpayer group is mobilizing fast and represents Canadians in every nook and cranny of the country.”

-- Toronto Sun, February 1994

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, substantive creators of the anti-deficit tide …”

-- Western Report, March 1997

“The Federation is an important and valued voice in decision making...nowhere is this more evident than in the leading role that the Federation played in educating Canadians about bracket creep and building support for re-indexation of the tax system.”

-- Hon. Paul Martin, MP, Former Minister of Finance, March 2000 

“The CTF is an amazing phenomenon, whose recent success in promoting tax and expenditure limits represents the ultimate paradigm shift in politics – from the top-down, trust me old politics to the politicians do-as-you’re-told new politics.”

-- Financial Post, June 1995 

“The dearth of new taxes may be the result of an unprecedented grassroots protest that began in the West and steamrolled East. Some 17,000 ordinary people turned up in February at anti-tax rallies from Victoria to Halifax, they swore and shed tears in gyms and town halls. They organized not in reaction but in pre-action. And by the time they’d drawn their lines in the snowy landscape of a Canadian winter, Parliament Hill was encircled, feeling the full force of people power.”

-- Vancouver Sun, February 1995

“The Federation has become one of the province’s – if not the country’s – most effective interest groups.”

-- BC Business Magazine, July 1996 

“… reverse those hasty mid-November Liberal tax cuts and the voters in turn, egged on by the feisty Canadian Taxpayers Federation, will have an equal right to punish the Tories when they see their net income abruptly nosedive.”

-- Lead editorial, Globe and Mail, February 2006

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is an effective watchdog against government spending abuses … for its exposes and efforts, the Federation deserves plaudits and contributions.”

-- Financial Post, December 1996

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation [is] extremely helpful in telling us the true score on taxes.”

-- Rick Howe, talkshow host, CJCJ Halifax, February 2000

“Whatever the bravado among politicians now, the whole issue of MLA pensions would likely never have come to the fore had it not been for the work of the CTF. Since 1993 the organization has been calculating pension figures and circulating petitions for reform.”

-- BC Report Magazine, July 1995

“The premier announced that anti-loan legislation would be introduced as early as 1996. Most significant, however, Mr. Klein assured reporters the legislation would be framed by the [CTF] virtually assuring it will have few, if any loopholes.”

-- Alberta Report Magazine, September 1995 

“The CTF has a great site … for starters, look at the CTF’s great URL: www.taxpayer.com. Clearly somebody was thinking when that domain was snapped up. The site itself is strong on information and light on gizmos, making the surf experience quick and effective. In other words, a visitor gets a big bang for his time”

-- Hill Times, February 1998

“I value the CTF as an invariably credible source of thoughtful input.”

-- Roy Green, talkshow host, CHML Hamilton, February 2000 

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation knows a boondoggle when it sees one.”

-- Ottawa Sun, June 1998

“It’s a good thing there are outfits like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation around to blow the whistle.”

-- Sterling News Service, BC, November 1999

“The CTF has done a fantastic job during their years and has emerged as one of the most prominent members of Taxpayer Associations International and its 25 member associations from 21 different countries on six continents.”

-- Bjorn Tarras-Wahlberg President, World Taxpayers Association,
Stockholm, Sweden, March 2000

“Apparently all it takes to light a fire under Conservative leader Stephen Harper is a critical press release from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. In which case, we hope the CTF keeps up the good work … by mid-week Harper was spouting off on the need for the federal government to offer tax relief to Canadians in the form of cuts to the gas tax.”

-- Lead editorial, Edmonton Sun, August 2005

“The western influence in national thought also shows through … organizations … the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s push for greater fiscal responsibility on the part of governments, specifically balanced budgets. It received enormous publicity in the lead-up to the 1995 deficit-reducing federal budget and received much of the credit in the media for the absence of major tax increases.”

-- From The Ascendancy of Western Canada In Canadian Policymaking,
a February 1998 study authored by David J. Rovinsky from the
Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC. 

“The CTF aims to become an effective ‘common’ (as opposed to ‘special’) interest group, expressing the frustrations not of an angry minority but of a furious majority.”

-- Peter C. Newman, Maclean’s magazine, 1993

"Governing is not an easy task. Interest groups of all types constantly place pressure on the public treasury. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is unique. In demanding the taxpayer be given equal consideration, [the CTF is] an all-important counter-balance to the demands of those who would tax and spend more.”

-- former Ontario Premier Mike Harris, 2001

“Through forceful, but measured lobbying efforts, the CTF has managed to make itself THE voice of beleaguered Canadian taxpayers.”

-- Lorne Gunter, columnist, The Edmonton Journal, February 2000

“The CTF...has an impressive reputation as a genuine burr in the backsides of the oldtime political parties of all ideological persuasions.”

-- Globe and Mail, 1993

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation stands alone in fighting, without compromise, the excessively high taxes in this country.”

-- Diane Francis, columnist, National Post, February 2000

“Happy New Year. Watch your paycheque shrink. That’s the grim holiday message delivered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation on behalf of tax-gouged Canadian workers and their employers.”

-- Vancouver Province, December 2002

“The Federation has stormed onto the national scene establishing itself as perhaps the most potent pressure group of the new politics.”

--CBC Radio Profile, February 1995

“Finally, [taxpayers] have a strong, intelligent, no nonsense, non-partisan force to watch dog their interests. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has shown itself to be a veritable Rottweiller, with a bite every bit as fierce as its bark.”

-- Barbara Yaffe, Columnist, Vancouver Sun, February 2000

“Those who fight for freedom in this country have a great ally in the CTF.”

-- Charles Adler, talkshow host, CJOB Winnipeg, February 2000

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation … has achieved political leverage out of all proportion to its numerical strength. Politicians compete to win the federation’s moral seal of approval. McGuinty’s well-publicized signing of the pledge was treated as a political coup of monumental proportions.”

-- Toronto Star, September 2003

“...taxpayers [should] read the CTF’s report … It will warm the cockles of farmer Bob’s heart … that [he] must work until July to pay the tax man so Ottawa can send [his] cash to corporate welfare bums like Bombardier ($87 million), B.F. Goodrich ($1.56 million), de Havilland Inc. ($57-million), IBM Canada ($33-million), Pratt and Whitney ($385.4-million), SCNLavalin Inc. (8.7-million) and my favourite, the poor needy folks at Rolls Royce Industries ($53.3-million).”

-- Lisa Corbella, editor, Calgary Sun, February 2002

“The CTF has called on the federal government to hold a national referendum on implementing the Kyoto Protocol. What a good idea. The protocol is of profound import[ance].”

-- Lead editorial, Vancouver Sun, October 2002

“Lower tax rates should be felt right across the board … Tax critics like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation say that after years of federal tinkering around the edges of the tax system, it’s about time.”

-- National Post, December 2000

“We’re indebted to the CTF for the following information – so much more interesting than the propaganda you’ll find in the Liberal Red Book … the $100-billion in tax cuts the federal Liberals promised you over the next five years … is really about half that.”

-- Editorial, Sun Newspaper Chain, December 2000

“...organizations such as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation can be quoted so often in the media that I sometimes feel they are a kind of shadow government.”

-- Published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,
The Missing News by Robert A.Hackett & Richard Gruneau et. al.

“The government-appointed committee tore a page from the CTF policy book by proposing that MP salaries be reported to the public by including tax-free wage allowances … [and] linking the salaries to some kind of wage index … another solid CTF proposal.”

-- National Post, May 2001

Comments by Issue

Click on the following links for quotes concerning the Canadian Taxpayers Federation on selected issues:

• Bad Press?
 
• Gas Taxes and Roadway Trust
 
• Aboriginal Reform
 
• Tax Reform
 
• Elimination of Alberta Health Care Tax
 
• Toronto City Taxes
 
• Health Care Reform
 
• Saskatchewan Privatization