Harris Bashing Has Become A Blood Sport

Columnists like Carol Goar seem to gloss over the fact that the actions of provinces were precipitated by the slash and burn tactics of the federal liberals and their need to lower debt. In the case of Ontario, the reduction of transfer payments coupled with the near bankruptcy of the province by the ndp under Bob Rae, meant hard times for us and a lot of Ontarians understood this and gave Harris two majorities. Broken promises by McGinty and a lack of fiscal responsibility by Miller keep getting laid at the Harris door.........

Tax cuts at root of budget crisis TheStar.com - comment - Tax cuts at root of budget crisis

July 20, 2007

Carol Goar

The first alarm bells went off 12 years ago. But they were faint and distant.

In New Jersey, one of the richest states in the U.S., municipal property taxes were rising rapidly. Mayors were complaining bitterly.

Governor Christine Todd Whitman was a year into her aggressive tax-slashing program. Her aim was to cut state income taxes by 30 per cent in her first term of office.

But as the state's taxes went down, local levies went up and municipal politicians faced outrage from hard-pressed ratepayers.

That was the year Mike Harris, the newly elected premier of Ontario, launched his Common Sense Revolution, pledging to chop personal income taxes by 30 per cent.

It took longer for pain to filter down to the municipal level in this country, partly because of differences in the structure of government and partly because Harris and his colleagues undertook a massive reorganization of local services that threw everybody's books into disarray.

When the confusion subsided, city officials realized their costs were galloping ahead of their revenues. They accused Harris of shortchanging them, dipped into their contingency reserves, delayed sewer, water and road maintenance, hiked user fees and cancelled discretionary programs.