Lower-income families feel a chill

Just a one liner. "What's in the budget for single persons who are taxed the most???"

$70,000 they should not need a tax break. I am sorry but it seems the same as always the ricj get richer and the poorer get poorer. If you can drive around in high priced cars then NO tax breaks should be given

How does this help the young single wage earners without children, that are in apprenticeship programs. They make minimum wage, have to maintain a household and also pay for their schooling and living out costs all at the same time. They need more help if they are to complete their schooling and be an active part of the tax payer society. Costs of education are way too high, our nation will sufffer the consequences of the decisions we make today.

One category always forgotten and ignored: LOW INCOME seniors. These get socalled Garanteed Income Supplement, and that gives me, personally, together with CPP, a grand total of @ 1009.= per Month, in the GTA !! Did you think they upped this Garanteed Income Supplement? NO of course not. There are some 200,000 of these low income seniors in Canada. For a measly one billion per year, each of these would get an extra $ 300.= per month, a real godsent; but no, "Go to Hell, you Seniors" In the total of the budget, this amount would make a difference of just pennies for every hundred or so dollars of the budget, but no, they ignore the poorest seniors. And then today, Jan 28, in the Budget Debate in the House, Harper has the audacity to say he has taken care of the vulnerable. Are not we among those ulnerable? He should try to live on that income. No, he gets that much in 2 days, in Ottawa !! I'll never again vote for him.

what about the ones in rural areas with grown children .we have bills too,cpp disabilaty spouse .
I work in low income bracket but pay lions share of taxes wheres our break here.martha-53_14@hotmail.com

Any low income ,or even wage earner that votes Conservative are personally responsible for the situation we find ourselves in! They always serve the rich and Corporate Canada. When the Sam Hell are the sweaty, swarthy working class going to smarten up and look after themselves instead of listening to the lies of the upper parasites that leech us to death!!!

Boy those are some pretty great bonuses for the poor! It's too little too late now for my family. After being told our son was ADHD and pushed on Concerta (almost $200/mth) because we earned just over $60,000 I have had it. I have two special needs kids now and can not afford a house, can not afford a car, can not afford to live in a duplex anymore. My work gives me a hard time taking days off for my children and has now closed I am without work. I will not be earning more than $12,000/yr anymore as it kills us when I do(I have 2 credit cards maxed from living including medicine cause neither of us had benefits-that is a scarce thing around where we live). Spouse earns almost $40,000 and made some "mistakes" with his money... tell me ... should I leave him with the kids.. I am now in debt too after 3 years of trying to assist him with his bills. Dominoes is right; I wonder how many other families out there are in this position? Oh wait my brother's son is almost in line to get a kidney and is being cut back to working 2 days a week living near Toronto and his wife just lost her job. My sister's hours were cut right back and Mom is on Disability... where do we turn???????????? Love to know where the gov is giong to get their future taxes!!!! My family is only one... there are many others out there... there is a family living in a motel room cause they were late on rent and lost their jobs??? Wholy cow what is going on???? Living in Niagara suxxxx. Sorry folks not everyone mismanages money... you have to have money to mismanage it.

The Conservative Caucus should be taking a closer look at the Basic Exemption for taxpayers. This number is supposed to be derived from certain calculations tied to economic indices.

Many have good reason not to have great faith in "economic indices" of late, nor to trust those that prognosticate with them in tow.....

Changes to the Basic Exemption would provide EVERY Canadian with immediate tax relief delivered directly to the paycheque every two weeks. People WILL spend it........economic stimulus will result!

Some provinces with Provincial Tax not harmonized with Federal Tax have raised their basic exemptions substantially.

Ask yourself if the Conservative Caucus considers that a single person earning 10,100 per year should pay ANY tax. Taxes imposed on the poorest are surely the most unjust.

People who earn 10,100 or less indeed pay NO tax. Additional exemptions (Seniors, Pension Income, Disability,etc) can increase this threshold. Children do not, and are treated under the Child Benefit program!

Every one (excepting those with additional exemptions) who earns 10,101 must pay tax.

I think that the existing exemptions are ridiculously low, and that closer examination of taxation policy concerning BASIC costs of living will warrant a substantial increase in the Basic Personal Exemption! It is currently far below the "poverty-line".

Figures relating to Family Income also require scrutiny, as the thresholds are also ridiculously low. The current system does not provide incentive to work harder to achieve the same net earnings (after losing your Child Benefit).

Tax incentives for renovations (a whopping 15%) do not excite those who can not afford a home, nor do they excite the "working poor", or fixed-income seniors, who already do not have enough money to renovate their homes.

Infrastructure spending to rebuild roadways is not much use to those who can not afford to drive a car, or afford to cruise the internet.

Potential Billions for automobile manufacturers will not provide credit for the working poor to buy automobiles, nor will it do anything to stimulate demand for them.

The equity of the taxation system which supports the government speaks volumes of the nature of that government.

Citizens should be rewarded with what they get to KEEP of what they have already earned! This budget does not deliver a single dollar to those who would value a single dollar the most!

Lorraine I wanted to respond to you as well - have you ever earned $70,000 in your home? That is now even close to being rich. They take more than 30% and you get to pay them in the end as well at income tax time. No GST refund. No child tax benefit... nothing! We earned $65,000 one year and by the time I figured it out I would have been better to work part-time 15 hrs a week cause I would have made the same when you add those bonuses they that give...in. They tax you to death at $70,000 and you actually have less then most people. Hahahaha... I lived better on partial assistance or what used to be called Ontario Works... which I am laughing cause that program does not work.... they permit $2/hr per child for babysitting and have a list and if you are lucky they might have someone in your area to babysit. My other post asks if I should leave my partner... if I did that my children will become unrested costing the community more in the long run possibly in damages. I am feeding the neighbour's children right now in a middle-class area where most people own their own homes.... three homes are now empty as forced sales and 1 child came over saying someone took their parents hydro bill and they have no heat... thought it was illegal to shut off people's power? I live in Niagara Falls and tourism has been hit hard... people are starting to show the hurt even more now. Across the way from me sits a 72 yr old grandmother caring for her 2 grandchildren who just lost her license as well as having a basement fire over the summer we are also trying to help. Doesn't our government or society as a whole even care anymore? Everywhere I look it's awefully depressing lately.

Congratulations to John Toewater. Its time Seniors spoke up. As a mother of 6, grandmother of 9 and great-grand mother of 4 I really feel the pinch. Many feel Seniors are all secure with benefits from previous jobs, investments and savings. NOT SO> Most seniors of the 70 - 90 bracket worked when there was no child care (if you were pregnant you got fired).No child care aid and benefits were a thing to come. AS well most health care benefits for seniors is of the basic needs variety. Most health concerns for Seniors come from dental problems, ill fitting dentures, etc. No where in the health benefits for seniors is there assistance for dental care. I live on 1400 per month (850 for rent) plus all utilities. Doesn't leave much for food does it? I don't have a care because I cant afford it. I dont have a dentist (though I sorely need one) because I can't afford it. And Dentists do not take payments from seniors. One told me "I cant do that , "what if you die". So much for a caring infrastructure. It is time for Grey Power to reassert itself. Seniors what do you say. Just because we are no longer in the workforce whe have contributed to the whole welfare of the country. I raised my children alone, with no help from government assistance, no welfare, no help at all. All are law abiding, working, tax paying citizens who now struggle to raise their children the same way. My final word to government is this. CAN YOU LIVE ON 17000. per years? Try it. Believe me you won't like it.

If you can't take care of your kids, keep your legs closed, Stop bitching about how you can't afford kids when it was your CHOICE to have them.

To Mike
You sound like a dead beat dad. Losing your job because of the economy and not knowing how you will care for your family is every parents worst nightmare. I happen to be one of the lucky ones, I have a recession proof job and my mortgage payments are much less than what most people pay in rent. I kicked my ex husband out five years ago and got out of thirty thousand dollars of debt, without child support or welfare. I know what it is like to be in that dark tunnel, unable to see daylight. Our friends and neighbours don't need your poisonous remarks.

If the government really wanted to kick start the economy, they should hand every person in Canada a Million dollars. That would be 38 million dollars. Then they can use the balance of the budget for the rest of all the stuff they want to do. Canadians have slaved hard for the government. Its the price humanity pays to be born in this society which is supposed to be a democratic free society. But when you see the people of our land being in such a state where they don't know how they are going to survive they are like scared animals in a cage and beyond those bars, our food and other basic necessitieis waved in front of our face. We are left reaching for it but we can't have it. This budget is supposed to make us feel like somebody forgot to close the door on our cage. They want to keep us oppressed because they are afraid of what might happen if we all got out of the cage at once. The settlers of this land had it tough. Winters of starvation and summers of drought. Do you remember why they came to Canada? They came to Canada to be free from paying tithes and taxes on their land and commodities. They came to Canada because they were told the land was free. If I knew I had a free place to live I would suffer my whole life of hardship and pain with dignity and rspect. One million dollars to every Canadian should do just that. Regardless of age creed or colour.

I agree with Jackie, instead of helping the Banks and the their lackeys(finance companys), help Canadians first. Finance companys along with banks and Insurance companies are bleeding everyone dry, have you ever tryed to get a small loan and the banks turn you down but they have a subsidury in the name of a finance company that charges you an outrageous interest rate. For instance you see a vehicle that costs 8995.00 but because a bank won't help you, you are told "BUT this finance company will help you get your credit back", so instead of 8995.00 you are now stuck with a 6 year term at 310.00/mth, which now works out to 44000.00, so how is this helping anyone, it puts you in further than you wanted, it should be a crime to pay something like this but it happens every day,on mortgages for homes, cars and so on. GIVE every Canadian adult a minimum of 500,000 dollars and then see how many get out of debt, this in turn pays the banks and finance companies off and gives people a chance to actually own something and take pride in, they can feed their families, buy a home, a car, pay for education and medical and oustanding taxes , which in turn helps the banks and the economy, i'm not saying give it directly to people until these bills are paid, what ever is left over give it to them. Then we would all benefit, not just Bay street, wall street and so on. We keep giving to these people who keep making bad decisions, help those who need help, so everyone can start at an even footing.

I also agree with Jackie and wayne
The only way to kick start an economy is give it to the people and let them buy what they need. The professionals would directly benefit and so would all retail outlets. Don't worry about banks they "take" what they need. Always have. The same goes for insurance companies. The biggest buildings in a city are always financial buildings.....they make money on the backs of those who are the most vulnerable. Same goes with the stock market. If you want to gamble then give it to the neigbor down the street who needs help. If you don't get it back so what. You aren't getting richer in this market anyway.

$500 a year for a single parent with 2 children, HMMMM let me see, that might get the kids dressed for the begining of the school year if the parent is a good shopper.
I guess the only concern now is "What will those children be eating before they go to school in the morning and can they afford to live in a warm home next winter"?

Ok
I guess I was raised funny because I was told that in life I would have to support myself and nobody else was going to take care of me. Where does it say the government should support you and give you a free ride?

I would love a tax break but I know it isn’t going to happen without a reduction in services. I like the roads I drive on, the subsidized medical, education, etc. Why do all of you expect something for nothing?

I will never receive any government assistance back ever. Do I complain? No. My fiancé and I are in or mid-late twenties, completely self reliant and pay about 45K a year in income tax for government services most of which we don’t even use. We got there by working hard (up to 100 hours a week hard for long periods of time for those wondering), studying hard, and wise investing without a helping hand. Not only didn’t most of the people commenting above manage any of this they want somebody like myself to pay even more tax so that they can be given what I earned. Be careful you don’t upset the people that pay your bills with their hard work because one day they might refuse.

Maybe my jaded view is because I have traveled to many places where people actually struggle to find clean water and basic food to eat. Canada is a land of great opportunity; you can blame only yourself for missing those opportunities as they only take hard work, ambition and some intelligence.

Also
Give everybody in Canada 1 million dollars? Are you truly that naive? Where will the 30 trillion (yes 30,000 billions) come from? If you expect the government to just print it then go read about Zimbabwe where they have done just that (inflation is 50% daily and their economy is completely toast). Actually know something (or at least anything) before you post here.

I just have to say that I must somewhat agree with Young Disgusted Professional. Even though in my family when I was growing up, we had to live pay check to pay check, my father worked very hard for his money and then... when he did get laid off from work, it was hard for him to get money, but we always managed to stay afloat. It seemed that when we really needed it, it came. But I do know some people who are out there who are more then willing to just sit around all day when they are perfectly fine and could be working and making money, but they choose not to. Then the government gives them the money... no problem. Yet when there are those who really need it, it is hard to get. We are in a land of great oppurtunity and not everone is using that. I worked my way up from like I said a family where with my parents we were living pay check to pay check to a job where I have the security that I will never loose it (because of the shortage of nurses). Yet people who chose to better themselves can. I find that people take too much for granted. There is so much that I could say about this... but I will stop at this.