A Winnipeg Sun reader online commented on something that I think more and more people are starting to realize—and more people need to start saying out loud. It wasn’t a rant, and it wasn’t emotional. It was a simple description of how things work in this country now, and it’s worth repeating.
The reader described how they built a modest 1,400-square-foot bungalow just outside Winnipeg in 2023. A normal home, not a mansion. They paid $40,000 in taxes up front—GST, land transfer tax, and no rebate because the home cost over $450,000. Then, they spent another $28,000 on the usual extras: appliances, window coverings, landscaping, a deck, and a fence. A contractor did none of it; they did the work themselves. But they still paid GST and PST on everything they bought.
Add it up. That’s $68,000 they had to shell out, and a huge chunk of it went directly to the government. They calculated the taxes they could clearly see came to $43,000. That was the sticker price for taxes alone. But when you start factoring in the GST and PST they paid on every bit of construction material to build the house itself, it’s almost certain they paid thousands more—on top of the $43,000 they already counted. In all likelihood, they handed over closer to $50,000 or more in taxes just for the privilege of having a place to live. Paid with after-tax income. That is a fact. That is the reality in Canada.
And for what?
What are we actually getting in return for all this money?
Canada: Among the World’s Most Taxed Nations
We are one of the highest-taxed countries on the planet. That’s not my opinion. The Fraser Institute reported that, in 2023, the average Canadian family paid $64,610 in taxes at all levels of government. That’s 46.1% of their total income. You work half the year for the government before you start working for yourself.
And what are we getting for that? Health care? We’re told we have one of the best systems in the world. We’re told that “universal health care” is something that sets Canada apart. But what’s the truth?
The Commonwealth Fund ranked Canada second-worst among 11 developed countries in terms of health care performance. That’s not second best—it’s second worst. Meanwhile, countries like Australia and Sweden offer universal health care systems and pay significantly less in taxes.
In Australia, for example, health care accounts for 9.3% of GDP compared to Canada’s 11.5%. The Australian system delivers better outcomes with shorter wait times.
We pay more. We get less.
Defence? Neglected.
What about our military? What about the basic responsibility of a government to protect its citizens? I sat in the Legislature and heard the same warnings year after year. Russian and Chinese ships are operating near our Arctic waters. This isn’t new. This has been going on for years. And what are we doing about it? Virtually nothing.
We are nowhere near meeting our NATO commitment of 2% of GDP for defence spending. We currently sit at around 1.38%. Compare that to Norway and Finland, countries that share our northern exposure. Both of them have increased their defence budgets in recent years. They’re taking security seriously, while we’re not. We act as if geography will save us. It won’t.
Tariffs? Bad Policy Sold as Good Politics
Now, our politicians are selling tariffs as the smart move. Retaliatory tariffs on American goods, they tell us, will teach the Americans a lesson. Will they? Countries like Japan and South Korea have faced tariffs from the U.S. and didn’t slap retaliatory tariffs on everything in sight. Why? Because they know tariffs make life more expensive—for their own citizens. But our government is more interested in scoring political points than protecting your bank account.Tariffs are taxes by another name. And you pay them every time you go to the store.
$11 Billion in Wasteful Spending—And That’s Just One Example
And here’s the kicker: the Trudeau government spent $11 billion on overseas gender programs. $11 billion. Wrap your head around that. That money came out of the same pot you contribute to every time you pay income tax, GST, PST, fuel tax, and every other tax they pile on.
To put it into perspective, $11 billion is:
Enough to cover more than half of Manitoba’s entire annual provincial budget.
Enough to build 55 brand new state-of-the-art hospitals at $200 million each.
This is enough to pay for almost every home in Canada to be energy retrofitted, which would dramatically reduce household heating bills.
And that’s just one example.
How much more is being wasted? Foreign aid with little accountability? Billions in subsidies for “green” projects that produce no measurable benefit? Corporate welfare to giant companies that don’t need handouts?
It was recently reported that the federal government spent $21 billion on consultants between 2017 and 2021. That’s $21 billion handed to outside firms instead of funding frontline services or paying down the debt.
The Auditor General of Canada has repeatedly flagged wasteful spending, including the infamous ArriveCAN app that ballooned from an $80,000 project into a $54 million debacle.This is why we pay so much in taxes. The government does not need the money to keep the lights on; it refuses to stop wasteful spending.
We Can’t Afford This Anymore
We’re $1.2 trillion in debt. Interest payments alone are $46 billion a year—just to service the debt. We are in a hole, and we keep digging. It’s not sustainable.
If you ran a household or a business like this, you’d be bankrupt. The government should not get a pass because they can keep printing money or raising taxes. That’s what they do, but it’s a broken strategy.
We need to shrink government, evaluate every dollar, and get serious about cutting unnecessary spending and lowering taxes. There is no other way.
Enough Is Enough
Look at what we’re being asked to accept. You pay $43,000 (probably $50,000 or more) in taxes just to build a modest home with your own hands. You pay nearly half your income in taxes each year. You wait months for basic health care. You watch our north go undefended. At the same time, our government spends billions on foreign programs, consultants, and political pet projects with little or no oversight.
It’s outrageous. And it needs to stop.
The Next Election Is Critical
If an election is called, do not sit on the sidelines. Don’t just vote for a name or a brand. Ask hard questions. Demand to know how they’ll cut spending and lower taxes. Demand proof. Demand accountability.
If they can’t give you answers, they don’t deserve your vote. We can’t afford to wait. We can’t afford another $11 billion in waste while Canadians struggle to afford homes, groceries, and heating bills.
We need serious leadership and a government that lives within its means, like the rest of us.
And we need to send that message loud and clear.