Why do politicians lie? To protect you

It's an unfortunate reality in politics that leaders say one thing and do another. In his 2003 campaign, Dalton McGuinty locked eyes with Ontarians and promised not to raise taxes. A short time later, the annual health tax was introduced. The situation seems blatantly obvious: McGuinty is a liar like every politician and there's no point in listening to what they say. Wrong. Unfortunately, we are the problem.

It was just a few weeks ago that, London City Council passed the city budget which cut $1 million per year from London's affordable housing fund, reduced funding for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and diverted funds from the strategic reserves. All of these actions were so the City could meet Joe Fontana's promise of a zero per cent tax increase. Now, on one hand, it's admirable that a politician followed through on a promise, but what is it really going to cost in the long run? CTV News reported that by cutting the aforementioned services, the average household was saving just $7 per year.

London residents voted in a candidate based partly on his promise to freeze taxes and that's extremely unrealistic. There's no doubt that if it were possible, people would vote for a freeze on the price of gas at, say, $1 per litre. However, if the freeze were over a period of five years, more and more resources would need to be diverted from other services to make up the deficit created by the freeze. If London taxpayers really wanted to have their taxes lowered at the cost of services, I'm sure a candidate would arise proposing a 10 per cent slash in property taxes and the elimination of garbage pickup.

The taxation model shapes a society. Its goal is to provide a maximum number of public resources at the lowest possible cost, which is divided up amongst the populace. The inherent struggle is to keep these services as efficient as possible in order to provide taxpayers with the maximum return on their investment. By cutting something like the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund, members of the community lose a resource that was put in place to support them in the event of a crisis. A person living on the street is far more susceptible to colds, pneumonia and heat stroke, and thousands of taxpayer dollars are spent treating these preventable conditions.

The bottom line is that by making a zero per cent tax increase the top priority, we lose sight of what our actual priorities should be. Fontana was acting on behalf of his constituency by pushing for these cuts, yet at the same time you'd be hard-pressed to find someone in London who is against providing funding for affordable housing and the physically impaired, particularly when the annual price tag is less than $10 per household. If you're looking for somewhere to live that doesn't raise taxes, you can start by looking for the highest poverty rates.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.