Social Policy in Ontario

Dear Canadian taxpayer: I love you

Posted on August 10, 2014 in Inclusion Debates

—

MontrealGazette.com – Opinion/Editorials – I have come to realize just how important taxpayer-funded social programs have been for me and my family
August 10, 2014.   By Katharine Cukier, Special To The Gazette

Dear Canadian Taxpayer:

I know this may seem rather sudden, and I barely know you, but I have a burning desire to tell you that I love you.

As I consider my half-century of life, I realize that it is you, dear taxpayer, who has made much of that life possible.

And yes, at this very Wordsworthian-Keynesian moment of powerful fiscal feeling, I am overlooking your imperfections. But oh please let me sing your praises while this feeling, sincere and true, sweeps me off my feet.

Like all love affairs, there is a dose of narcissism at play here, because I, too am a taxpayer. When I see, you, I see a reflection of me. I identify with your grumbling skepticism over losing half or more of your earnings to several levels of government. I know too well the frustration of crumbling infrastructure, car-busting potholes, health-care waiting lists, or an inaccessible justice system. There’s a long way to go to improve the lives of aboriginal people, and our policies on climate change. And as a Montrealer, I have writhed with moral disgust that our taxes have been lining the silk pockets of the Mob.

And yet, in spite of all of these heartbreaking betrayals, I still see your goodness shining through.

For I have understood that without you, beloved Canadian taxpayer, there could be no me.

It started long ago, behind the mists of childhood, when because of you I was free to take for granted that I would be cared for by a family of modest means. I realize how important you were to making sure we would not derail; indeed, that we would flourish. But because of you, my refugee father and my too-young-to-be-widowed mother were able to launch their three daughters into a Canadian society that provided a decent public education, public health care and safe neighbourhoods.

Although my mom was on her own by the time she was 33, with a secretary’s salary, her three girls would earn a total of nine university degrees thanks to accessible public universities. And when Mom could no longer take care of her aging parents, you, compassionate taxpayer, provided a decent nursing home for my beloved grandparents, where they would finish their days in dignity.

But what has made my feelings for you so vivid recently is that you have enabled me to care for my autistic son. Believe me when I say to you that we could never have managed without you.

You have been there for us since the very beginning. From the excellent pre-natal obstetric care to the shell-shocked ambulance drivers who delivered the ever-impetuous Benjamin on the floor of my living room. Thanks to you, I had 12 months of maternity leave for both my children. And as my son’s disability became apparent, there was a fleet of doctors, speech therapists, occupational therapists and psychologists. As Quebecers, we had $7-a-day childcare and when he was four, Benjamin was eligible for 20 hours a week of preschool intervention.

Today, there is the $35,000+ subsidy that you provide for him every year at his school, without which he never would have come so far. Therapists and teachers create a customized learning environment for him. And yup, it was you who bankrolled his three-month stay in a psychiatric hospital, with its state-of-the-art sensory room and discotheque for autistics. It saved our family.

Thanks to you, we have an amazing social worker and a weekly educator who comes to the house. We also get grants for specialist babysitting, home renovations to improve security for our son and, of course, there are several thousands of dollars we are given as tax credits from our progressive tax system.

Then there are his (our) six or seven weekend respites, his swimming lessons and camps that are financed 35 per cent by you, and another chunk by my tax deductions (which also means you). Your money supports the pools, parks and bike paths that give my son so much intense joy, and where he has achieved such a mighty sense of accomplishment.

Yes, dear Canadian taxpayer, you have done all this — and more.

And shall I share with you the precise moment of revelation of my feelings for you, when I knew that I owed you a central place in my heart?

The moment when it all became clear to me that you were the source of so much goodness in my life and the life of my family was when I stood beside seven members of the ER staff at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, in a small operating theatre. Your hospital, your operating theatre, your gowns, gloves and gauze. Two of your doctors, three of your nurses and two of your orderlies gathered gently around my frightened son and his trembling mother, to help remove a small splinter from his infected foot.

When I got splinters as a child, Grampa sterilized the needle with a flame and dug it out. But I had explained and they had listened, that treating Benjamin at home would be impossible and that because of his autism he compulsively runs and jumps constantly, regardless of pain.

They weren’t hard to convince; they wanted to help. Seven public health-care professionals, including two of the three doctors working that shift, held my son down, injected his foot with a local anesthetic and dug out the splinter.

He was put on antibiotics and he didn’t miss a day of overnight camp (that, too, was on you, dear taxpayer) which allowed my husband and daughter and me to go on our first vacation together in 12 years.

It was then and there that I had my epiphany about Canadian fiscality: the national treasury is a national treasure. Platitude is revelation.

O Beauteous Taxpayer, I hold you personally responsible for my son’s amazing progress and, more important, you are ultimately our family’s greatest benefactor. You have given us the gift of hope that we actually will be able to give our son a happy life.

I am not going to end with the Canada-is-great thing. We still have a lot of work to do, as a country. But we do have some of our priorities straight, and looking after children like my son is a pretty decent priority. I know you can be grumpy, dear Canadian taxpayer, but I want you to know that you are the apple of my eye, the engine powering my pursuit of happiness.

I love you.
Katharine

Katharine Cukier is a teacher who lives in Montreal.

< http://www.montrealgazette.com/Dear%2BCanadian%2Btaxpayer%2Blove/10106439/story.html >

Tags: budget, child care, disabilities, Health, ideology, immigration, participation, standard of living, tax

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 10th, 2014 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Inclusion Debates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.