Canadians Expect Tax Hike Under Martin's Leadership

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

08 December 2003

Whilst most Canadians expect Paul Martin to have a positive effect on the nation’s economy after he assumes the Prime Ministership this week, a significant number also believe that taxes will rise in the near future.

According to the Toronto Star/Altamira Investment Confidence Index, almost 70% of those surveyed expected their tax bills to rise in the coming year, up from 59% who expressed the same view in the previous poll undertaken last August.

The figure is even more pronounced in the state of Ontario where the incoming Liberal government has designs to overturn tax cuts pledged by the defeated Tories. Here, three-quarters of the survey expected taxes to rise as the provincial government tackles a $5.6 billion deficit.

"Everyone knows there is debt someone is going to have to pay for," said Stephen Popiel, vice-president at polling firm Millward Brown Goldfarb according to the Toronto Star. "People know that at some point something is going to have to give, and that's their pocketbooks."

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