𝐆𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐀𝐀𝐃: 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐀, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓’𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓

 

Gad Saad, evolutionary behavioral scientist and professor at Concordia University in Montreal, appeared on Hannity and gave American conservatives a lesson in what high taxation actually feels like when you live inside it — from someone who has the pay stubs to prove it.

He walked through the math step by step. 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝟑𝟑%. 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓.𝟕𝟓%. “𝘚𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 50𝘴.” But the income taxes are only the beginning. Every time you spend what’s left, you pay a double sales tax — combined federal GST and Quebec’s QST — at roughly 15%. Then add property tax, a carbon tax, a gas tax, and a school tax. The total? “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 30 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳.”

Then Saad put a calendar to it:

“𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 1𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.”

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐫. The Fraser Institute’s annual Tax Freedom Day calculation backs him up. The average Canadian family pays roughly 43.5% of its income in total taxes across all levels of government. In Quebec — Canada’s most heavily taxed province — that figure is even higher, and Tax Freedom Day falls around the end of August. Nationally, the average Canadian’s Tax Freedom Day falls around June 9 this year. For Saad in Quebec, it’s two months later. That’s two additional months of your life, every year, that belong to the state before any of it belongs to you.

For context: the United States’ Tax Freedom Day typically falls in April. That’s not because America is a tax haven. It’s because the gap between 30 cents on the dollar and keeping 40+ cents — 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫. Americans who think the IRS is punishing should see what Saad’s Quebec tax bill looks like before his summer starts.

𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

Ver menos