My Story
I’ve worked in fundraising for 30 years. This means I help charities raise money. I’ve seen how kind Canadians can be. People give money to help sick kids, support food banks, and help their neighbors. Over the years, I’ve helped raise millions of dollars for causes that make our communities better.
I’ve worked with hospitals that needed new equipment. I have also helped feed hungry families. I’ve raised money for research to cure diseases. Through it all, I’ve seen firsthand how much Canadians care about helping others.
But there’s a big problem we need to talk about. Canadians pay way too much in taxes. This has been going on for years and nothing changes. As someone who works with money and budgets every day, I can see how this affects everyone.
The Shocking Truth About July 14th
Here’s something that might surprise you. People who make the most money in Canada pay 53.53% of their income in taxes. That’s more than half! This includes both federal taxes and provincial taxes combined.
Think about this: If you’re a high earner, you work for the government from January 1st to July 14th. That’s 195 days. Every meeting, every project, every hour you work goes straight to the government. You don’t get to keep any of it.
Only on July 15th do you start earning money you can actually keep. That means you work more than half the year just to pay taxes. The rest of the year is for everything else – your mortgage, your food, your kids’ clothes, your single malt collection, your savings.
As someone who asks people to donate money to good causes, I think this is wrong. This high tax rate has been around for years, but we’re not getting good value for our money. Other countries have lower taxes and better services.
What Do We Get for taxes at 53.53%?
This is the most frustrating part. We pay these huge taxes but don’t get much back.
Our healthcare system has long wait times, not enough doctors and nurses, and old equipment. People wait months for surgeries that should happen quickly. Emergency rooms are overcrowded. Many family doctors have stopped taking new patients. Some people can’t find a family doctor at all.
Our roads are full of potholes. Our bridges are old and need fixing. Drive through any major Canadian city and you’ll see roads that look like they belong in a third-world country. Construction takes years to finish simple projects. Our buses and trains don’t work well (if at all), even though we spend lots of money on them. Many transit systems are unreliable and always behind schedule.
Schools are getting worse in many places, even though we spend more money on education. Students aren’t learning as much as they should. Class sizes are too big. Many schools don’t have enough textbooks or computers. Teachers are overworked and underpaid.
Government offices have too many workers doing jobs that don’t help anyone. They create layers of red tape that would never be allowed in private business. Simple tasks that should take days take months because of all the paperwork and approvals needed.
Charities Do Government’s Job
Here’s another problem. Charities are now doing jobs that the government should do. Food banks used to be for emergencies only. Now they’re permanent because our government programs don’t work well enough. More families need food banks now than ever before.
Charities have to pay for research, social services, and fixing things that the government should handle. We already pay the government lots of money to do these things. But since the government isn’t doing its job well, charities have to step in.
This is crazy: We tax people heavily, then ask them to donate money for services their taxes should already cover. It’s like paying for a meal at a restaurant, then being asked to cook it yourself.
Smart People Are Leaving due to Taxes
When you tax people 53.53%, you get less productivity. The smartest, most creative, and hardest-working Canadians are moving to other countries with lower taxes.
I personally know dozens of successful business owners who have left Canada. These aren’t people trying to cheat on taxes. These are people who built businesses, hired workers, and helped their communities. They left because working harder just means paying more taxes.
When these people leave, we lose more than just their tax money. We lose their leadership, their new ideas, and their donations to charity. We lose the jobs they create and the businesses they build. We lose the young people they would have mentored.
Every time a successful person moves away, it makes Canada poorer. Not just in money, but in talent and innovation. The people who stay behind have to pay even more taxes to make up for the ones who left.
Why This Matters
Some people think fundraisers don’t understand money. But after 30 years, I know that charity works best when the economy is strong. A strong economy needs people to keep enough of their own money to make choices.
When people have money left over after paying for basic needs, they can choose to help others. They can donate to charities. They can start businesses that create jobs. They can invest in their communities.
A 53.53% tax rate is wrong. It’s bad for the economy and unfair to people. The government should work for us, not the other way around. We shouldn’t have to work more than half the year just to pay taxes.
When government takes more than half of what we earn and gives us poor services, something needs to change. We need to demand better from our government.
What We Can Do
We don’t need to stop helping good causes. What we need to do is demand that government works better with our money.
We need to see exactly where our tax money goes. We need to make sure every dollar is spent wisely. Together, we need to get rid of waste in government offices. Too many government workers do jobs that don’t help anyone.
Government should do fewer things, but do them really well. Instead of trying to do everything poorly, focus on the most important jobs and do them right.
Most importantly, people need to keep enough of their own money to make choices about spending, saving, and giving. When people have more control over their money, they make better decisions than government does.
Moving Forward
I’ll keep working for the causes I believe in. Charity is important, and people should help each other. But I’ll also keep fighting for a tax system that lets Canadians be generous to their communities, their families, and their own futures.
We need a government that spends our money carefully and shows us results. We need leaders who understand that taking more than half of what people earn is wrong.
Working until July 14th just to pay taxes isn’t freedom. It’s like being forced to work for someone else for most of the year. We can do better. We deserve better. And it’s time to demand change.
The solution isn’t complicated. Cut government waste. Lower tax rates. Let people keep more of their own money. When that happens, both the economy and charity will thrive.
L’chaim,
jack
