I remember seeing Donny Osmond in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat”. You remember the story; how Pharaoh had a dream of 7 skinny cows eating 7 fat cows. Joseph interpreted it to mean 7 years of plenty were coming that would be followed by 7 years of famine. Joseph slapped an immediate 20% tax on all produce for 7 years so that they would be ready to survive the time of famine.
This is a great strategy that governments should follow today. Save in good years to help us get through the economic downturns without having to mortgage our future. We may not have foreknowledge of the coming of the skinny cows, but we do know that bridges will need replacing and the economy goes in cycles. So why don’t we ever implement this ancient commonsense instead of borrowing and slapping tolls on once free bridges?
It is because Pharaoh was a monarch and everyone had to do what he said. We, on the other hand, rely on the good will of the people and we have lost too much of that. No government believes that they would survive an election if they were taxing the people enough to be able to put aside tens of millions of dollars for the next rainy day. AND, we cannot lay blame at the feet of our citizens for this. They know full well that the chances of that money not being wasted or worse, raided and given to inside government supporters and cronies would be very slim. If we want our people to be good citizens then we must give them a government that they can trust.
The BC Conservative Party believes we must foster good citizenship in all areas. We will achieve this first and foremost by delivering to the people responsible, impartial and transparent government. We will earn back the trust of British Columbians.
