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. it fer td io Ee e eP Eh PS Py AnMoy' O l ho 199 sisabsait f o ce ,.i ".'« '-' 'u'f' °e t« § \ x > oJ So es '\ y * i h '- ,',:. 4 es ,L':yr M 7 ' R '4" ' .~' a es "'""' 'l":"'"".."":_'. n > _# : 6e e ies .. .. p '% i & " oo W $T%.) ! * * & q (ik: -- R * ¢ a wl § * 4 a J "\& f of information, that the petitioners on this jurisdiction, no law we might pass would 4 : . uon J _ -- subject outside the cities had no sort of idea ' be of any effect. The salaries of the mem-- k & that what they were asking was in effect bers of the Ontario G@overnment were not y s | I that they should be¢ taxed for the bencfit ofi exempt, nor were those of the officers of the & 2 l § | -- $ thecities. And yet that would be the effectif Departments, nor those of the Division or Y y | | the prayer of these petitions to tax Govern-- County Courts--in fact all sorts of officers Ry y ue o | 1 ment property were acceded to." The general appointed by this Government were liable 8 I d | P + public would be asked to pay any taxeswhich to taxation, the only exceptions being the f , h e.| . p this city might 'impose on the Parliament | salaries of a few judges of the higher courts, | . l _ and Departmental buildings, the Normal and a fow officials at Osgoode Hall. When l er | f Echool, the University, &c. All these in-- | the salaries of thoso gentlemen had f a |-- stitutions were of great value to this city. been _ first exempted there had been . ® Other cities also woere benefitted from the &A reason for the exemption, which ¥ | § existence of public buildings in them. ; might or might not exist ; but the removal 7 it | _ 'There was Rockwood Asylum at Kingston, of that exemption would have a very small j | % the Asylum at London, the Institute for the effect upon the taxation of Toronto. 'The A i1 C Blind at Bravtford, and the Deaf and Dumb | total amount of the taxation of the city was -- ; ' Institute at Belleville. He was not aware something like $50,000,000, while the total Nes of any agitation in these different places for amount of the exemptions to which he had f wl the taxation of the public buildings situated referred was about $100,000 ; in other words, El l P there. The city of Oltawa regarded the the proportion was about as $1 to $500. _ As f P }' y value to the city of a Normal School being few people paid $500 taxes, it was really a l J f E situated there so much that the Corporation matlter which no taxpayer could feel ; h i s provided a. Inrzgo part of the land to any extent, Still, it was a question | l -- f" on which the school was built, The which, _""ith others, _ was ft.tirly open i C & f#'\" § truth was that a good deal of the pros. f<fr. consideration, _ The principle upon \ N 7 t perity of the city of Toronto srose from the | which these salaries had been excmpted t P ./ ome fact that these vuildings were located here. | in the first place was that the salaries of $ a y 4 It was perfectly clear, too, that those out-- | these gentlemen were not quite suflicient 3 ) l ; T side of the city who had talised of abolish-- | without other advantages in the way of y [ f f ing all exemptions had not intended that | t'x'cmption to make them adequate. It $ + sR ~wes by aboiishing the exomptions on the Pro-- | might be well, however, to consider this ht | vincial bniidings the" whole Province question along 'rith others which might be $ | should be iaxed to a consgiderable extent, |"'ft'l'redtothe Committee, That was one | ' 8. Then there were county and townshipbuild-- | of the questions upon which he would like 1 || w . M ings when these were situated in county to know what public opinion really was, M ~ y towns Auy one who was familiar with and especially the opinion of those who | ; / CR tho working of our municipal institutions, were familiar with the working of our sys-- ' f y knew that about the last thing the County tem of municipal taxation. It was perfectly dn Councils and Township Councils thought of clear, however, that they had been mislead-- 0 _| e | was thatthe people of theentire municipality ing themselves in imagining that the public. j | should be called upon to pay the taxes on sentiment of this country was really in - \ ' PMEX k | these buildings. 'They were no doubt of favour of abolishing all exemptions. It | CWike | great value to the county towns, and they would not be possible to remove all execmp-- ' io +« C ';wuro considered of such value that the tions, even if it was thought expedient to ( oi | | county towns might well exemps them from do so, because the British North America o( taxation in view of the great advantages e Act expressly declared that no Dominion or | * arpn which the town derived from their being Provincial property should be liable to M situated there. Another class of exemp-- taxation. 'The same observation applied to e tions was poersonal property, when it was some extent to incomes derived from the k under $100. 'This exemption was allowed Dominion, it being a matter now before . N ®! for the sake of the poorer people and the | the Courts whether the Province could F / M community, and hbe did not think that those | tax these salaries, Still, there were exemp-- f it OE who had petitioned for the abolition of all | tions which were within the power of this ' e exemptions had scriously contemplated doing | Legislaturetodeal with, and in regard to which | 1 § | away with this one and making the poor | it was fairly a question whether they should | ' $ | man pay taxes on less than $100 worth of | be abolished or continued ; and on all these Al o .. 99 i | personal property, _ (Hear, hear.) Thero matters he hoped to get light through the 10 | ~ 6. were others of the same kind which he instrumentality of the Committee which he ( ' !' it t might enumerate; such, for example, as in-- asked the House to grant him,. 'They would $ c 8 comes under $4%9. 'Whe principle on which, have to consider several questions: whether ! | > k that exemption was allowed was, that that any of the property now exempted from | d amount was absolutely necossary for the taxation -- should be _ rendered _ liable y( I support of a man and his fumily, and it was to it; whether it should be rendered it " P a principle which appealed to every one's |liable to it absolutely in all cases, . \ S good fecling and sense of humanity. _ Still, | and in all municipalities; or whether the [ - they had haa petitions signed by all sorts | option might not be given to the State to '3 of people, including thoss whose incomes declare whether certain species of property | T ' y were loss than $400, but who certainly should be taxed or not. Another question | j ' did not imagine that they were ask. would be, in case any property now exempt l { % ing that taxes should be imposed on from taxation should be made subject to it ' themselves. --But for the existence of one whether it should be made subject to flu; | \ comparatively small item--that of the whole taxation, or to a certain portion of , -- salaries of judges and a few oflicials at Os-- it--for instance, taxation for local im h goode Hall--he did not think that outside provements, sewers, roads, plank walks, and § 3= of Toronto (where the taxes were very so on ; for it might be advisable to make 4 heary) any such agitation as had arisen property liable to some taxation with-- ; would have been possible. (Hear, hear.) out making it liable to all. It And that exemption was one that did not might be & question whether something affect anybody but the people of 'Toronto, ought not to be charged upon Government j A general notion prevailed that the salaries property in respect of gas and police ser-- R of officials generaliy were exempt, but that vice, -- Many of our municipalities, includ-- # was a mistake, -- 8o far as the Ontario Legis-- ing the metropolis, had got largely in debnt put | 4 | lature was concerned, they had not at present for rail way and other purposes ; and it might <301) * FA | the power of taxing the salaries of offictals be a question whether, in case they removed | Y¥ |-- | of the Dominion Government. The salaries cxemptions from certain descriptions of \ | v&iic | of these gentlemen might be exempt, but if property, that removal should not be con. . \ ' e | . 'itbey were it was because this Legislature fined to some portions of the taxation-- @ | . | had not the authority to deal with the | whether the exemptions should not con-- t | 9 matter. --If, then, exemption was permitted | tinue in regard to other matters, such as the A | s | it was because under our system it was sup-- intg-rest npd sinking fund. 'The latter, he [3 ':: t posed we had no right to ?ax the in-- believed, in Toronto amounted to some U /A * comes of Dominion officials. That was now $300,000. Then he had spoken of vari-- 1 i iP} a question before the Courts ; and of the ous items _ of the present exemptions N e | 0 four judges who had given an opinion on which might fairly be reconsidered; and l U f this subject, two had expressed one view, in regard to them he should not 6 :0 and two the other, If, however, it was wish to either express a positive opinion ' ,.% decided -- that _ this Legislature _ had himself or bi.nd his colleagues to one, be-- 4 i .' jlll'ifi'l"(" on in the ,nllltc]" th'l-n ll'() cause in asklng for the Committec he wish. | 5 t further legislation would be required, as ed, to be free to form the best judgment he | | : T. the present Inw would then apply. _If, on could with the assistance the Committee | ' | the contrary, it was declared that we had no would afford. It might at present be con-- | venient to refer to some items now exempt-- | 4 , P + m] |