Dog On A Root

- jim Young “ In my firm, we dealt in lies. Advertising is that… the skilful use of the truth to mislead, to spoil, to debase.” - Storm Jameson Like many Canadians these days I am trying to buy “Canadian” as much as possible. To be more precise, I am trying to NOT buy from the U.S. But it’s not always a black and white issue. In a perfect world, I would purchase only items that are grown or manufactured locally. But that’s not always possible both for logistic and economic reasons. As a retired senior citizen on a fixed income it just doesn’t make sense for me not to do at least some of my shopping at Costco. Yes, Costco is a U.S. owned company but they do have a Canadian presence with over 100 outlets across Canada that employs over 50,000 Canadians. Doesn’t that qualify as supporting local people? But it doesn’t end there. We also still check the origin of the products we purchase at Costco. Obviously I’m not going to find any oranges that are grown in Canada. Nor is it always pos...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- jim Young “Why does a small tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents?” - anon I remember a conversation regarding taxes I once had with my father's Aunt Dora when I was a young adult. I had complained to Aunt Dora about paying taxes. Aunt Dora quickly reminded me that I should be grateful that I was in a position to be able to pay taxes. The message was kind of a cross between a lesson to accept what I could not change and be grateful for the  things I have in life. I took that wise lesson to heart and to this day, I do not object to my responsibility to pay my fair share of taxes; at least in principle.  What I do object to is the government’s wisdom (or lack thereof) in defining what a “fair share” of my taxes are and their ability (or lack thereof) in the management of the revenues they receive from taxation. But just like everyone else… I will gladly accept any tax break offered to me. So why shouldn’t I reap the benefits...