Shame on you

Hey, I muttered to Dorothy, maybe I should write a blog about the new book.

“Uh-huh,” she said, giving her full attention to the dog. I should have known.

That was 17 years, 5,684 posts, and 938,194 comments ago. Plus countess dogs, some donkeys, horses, lizards and too many (ugh) cats. At the time this was to promote my latest book (called ‘Greater Fool’) on the meltdown in the American housing market – which was about to cause the credit crisis and crater Wall Street – and Canadians’ unhealthy, dangerously growing obsession with residential real estate.

The initial blog post got five comments. This was one of the first: “I find people don’t want to hear the truth because it can scare them. Yet, after a few years you will be considered a prophet.”

Since then there have been booms and recessions, a once-in-a-century pandemic, political upheavals, 1% mortgages, generational warfare, record stock market gains, a tripling in house prices, wars, WFH and now AI, which plans to eat everyone’s job. The blog has been a daily chronicle of all this stuff – often telling people what they don’t want to hear. Tough.

Meanwhile, we’re all 17 years older. The world has changed, in dubious ways. But this pathetic blog grinds on like a 24/7 corner milk and vape store – in an age now where up is down, fiction is fact, traitors turn into patriots and heroes becomes bums.

This brings us to a comment submitted this weekend. “Garth,” Chris cries, “WTH happened to you?”

“I’m asking seriously. You used to be a Fiscal conservative. The guy who had the integrity to openly challenge Harper over the debt and wasteful government spending… If you’d run for office again I would have literally switched ridings to ensure you got my vote. Now, youre attacking DOGE? for what? other than you disliking Musk? Two years ago you derided the woke clowns who stole the Canadian flag from outside your office. Now you call patriots ‘losers’ Where did this TDS ideology come from?

“As a twenty something 10 years ago you captivated me with your grounded, fact based approach to government spending. Your posts preached common sense. You were an adult voice in a room full of political children. Now, you’ve become a mouthpiece for Tax and spend liberal propaganda. The Canadian citizen is taxed at 46% of their income and YOU bemoan the fact that people get to keep their tiny gains in the one last area where they make a profit on home sales?!

1 in 4 Canadians is currently employed by the federal government. Thats not a hallmark of a functioning economy, unless they are all saluting a hammer and sickle. They say “never meet your heros”, but maybe they should include don’t read their blogs for an extended period of time. Shame on you sir.”

See what I mean? Everybody is strident, righteous and partisan. Throwing labels is easy. Understanding what’s going down is hard.

Chris says, “The Canadian citizen is taxed at 46% of their income.” False, of course. The average federal and provincial income tax rate is currently just over 17%. Carney’s recent cut takes that to about 16.5%. People in Ontario and BC pay an average of just 15%. Quebecers and prairie dwellers are at 18%. Poor NS taxpayers are close to 20%.

But to hand over 46% of your overall pay requires an income of about $1 million. That puts you in the top 0.1% of the population (where the entry level is $906,000 per year.)

Chris says, “YOU bemoan the fact that people get to keep their tiny gains in the one last area where they make a profit on home sales?!” Well, either we want cheaper residential real estate, or we don’t. Make up your mind. Exempting one single asset class from capital gains tax has resulted in speculation, over-investment and the stupidest house prices on the planet. It’s unsustainable and government have been incapable of fixing it since human greed and avarice are involved. (And remember that capital gains taxes apply only to 50% of a gain – which is determined after costs have been removed.)

Sounds like Chris now has a house.

Chris says: “1 in 4 Canadians is currently employed by the federal government.” In reality, there are just over 367,000 federal employees, a number which is about to shrink. That represents 0.89% of the Canadian population and 0.5% of the total workforce.

So, 25% of Canadians do not work for the federal government. In fact, 99.5% of us do not.

As for Trump, TDS and the ‘patriots’ who attacked Washington or stomp around Canada wearing white masks, they’re all divorced from the mainstream centre where most Canadians sit, and upon which the values of our country are based. From the get-go, this blog has not been Con or Lib. I’ve identified myself repeatedly as a Progressive Conservative. The closest leader we have had to that in two decades is the current dude. May he succeed in the face of extremism.

So, Chris, WTH happened to you?

About the picture: “This is Loki, our 4 year old Pomeranian Shih Tzu,” writes Josh. “He is a loving family lap dog that is equal parts cuddles and white hot rage.  He loves playing with our “slightly” bigger Bernese Mountain Dog and chasing the kids up the stairs on their way to bed.”

To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘garth@garth.ca’.