NEWS RELEASE  

January 11, 1996   For Immediate Release 

"WASTE REPORT" SHOWS WHY GOVERNMENT IS GOING IN THE "HOLE"  

"Golf courses, bowling alleys, motels, foreign travel are costing taxpayers millions."  

Yorkton - Today Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, made available copies of Reform's second "Waste Report" prepared by his colleague, John Williams, Reform MP for St. Albert in Alberta. "If the first Waste Report didn't get under every taxpayer's skin this one should," said Breitkreuz. 

Here are some of the questions to come out of our second "Waste Report": 

• Why is the government giving away $3 million to build 7 golf courses? 
• Why is the government giving away over $30,000 for bowling alleys? 
• Why is the government giving away almost half a million for spectator seating? 
• Why is the government giving over a million dollars for a swimming pool in Toronto? 
• Why is the government giving $866,667 for bocce courts in North York? What are bocce courts? 
• Why is the government giving $9,505 to a snowmobile club to build a storage shed? 
• Why is the government giving over $1.6 million to 9 hotels and motels across the country? 
• Why is the government flying military families to Hawaii for holidays? 
• Why is the government paying for MPs and Senators to spend 4 days in Acapulco, Mexico? 

"I am working on a Private Member's Bill which would implement "The People's Tax Form". This form could be sent in with your income tax returns to Revenue Canada to tell the government how you want your hard-earned tax dollars spent. The form will also be used by taxpayers to tell the government which programs you absolutely do not want your money going to," reported Breitkreuz. "I hope to send a sample People's Tax Form out to all my constituents before they file their income tax returns so they can send a clear message to government." 

-30- 

For your copy of "The Waste Report" please call: 

Yorkton: (306) 782-3309 

Ottawa: (613) 992-4394 

TALKING POINTS - "THE PEOPLE'S TAX FORM"  

1. We are working with professor Filip Palada from the University of Quebec, The Fraser Institute and researchers in the Library of Parliament to design "The People's Tax Form" and develop plans and procedures for its implementation. 
2. We are planning to test "The People's Tax Form" in the Yorkton-Melville constituency this year, so taxpayers can file the form with the tax return. 
3. The first version will probably allow taxpayers to tell the government the top three programs they want their money spent on and the bottom three programs they absolutely don't want their tax dollars supporting. 
4. Once we have all the bugs worked out we will be drafting a Private Member's Bill which, if passed by Parliament, would require Revenue Canada to include "The People's Tax Form" as a regular form in their tax returns. Filling out the form would be voluntary but Revenue Canada would be required to tabulate and make the results public. 
5. I don't suppose it would take too many years of government's ignoring the majority wishes of millions of taxpayers before the taxpayers revolted and demanded that a percentage of their tax dollars actually be directed only to those programs they support. 
6. For now "The People's Tax Form" will just be one more way for taxpayers to tell government and their MPs what they think the priorities should be and that they better start saying and doing what the people want. I think the government and MPs would ignore the results of these tax forms at their peril.