The Ontario Scrapbook Hansard

Ontario Scrapbook Hansard, 8 Mar 1916, p. 1

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Alluding _ to taxation, Hon. Mr. McGarry said there might come a time when they would differ -- from the Minister of Finance at Ottawa with respect to the method of taxa-- tion. At Confederation the people of Ontario were given the right to im-- pose direct but they were @enied the right to impose indirect taxation. There was an understanding in most The Treasurer stated that the total ordinary receipts for the year were $12,975,732, and the total ordinary expenditure $12,704,362, leaving a net surplus of ordinary receipts over or-- dinary expenditure of $271,000. The total estimated recceipts for the fiscal year ending October 31, 1916, are $12,892,378, the total ordinary -- ex-- penditure $10,142,451, and the total cagital expenditure $10,931,536. +« In the course of his Budget speech,. which brought forth congratulations from the other side of the House, the Provincial Treasurer hinted that there might come a time when the Provincial authorities would have to differ from the Fin-- ance Minister at Ottawa -- with regard to the method of taxation. He alluded to the generally understood plan that the Province imposed direct taxation, and said that after the war the Province of Ontario would firmly assort its desire to have a clear ficld for the imposition of those taxes with-- in the compass allotted at the time of Confederation. e it;s exx';ectedwtt';atvidr C.. M.. Bow-- man, the Liberal Whip, will criticize the Budget this afternoon. Treasurer Considers New Revenue Sources coilleécting the tax on patrons of am-- usements, it is understood that as sys-- tem similar to that prevailingy in Montreal will be adopted. This means that the theatregoer or baseball fan will hand over the amount of the tax in adqudition to the regular admission fee. It is expected that the one--cent levy will be enforced for some time at the beginning, but as experience shows the tax may be graded according to the price of the admission fee. This is apparently what the 25--cent maxi-- mum tax which may be brought inite force by regulation or order in Council has in view. While the Provincial Treasurer did not specifically state the method of collecting the tax on patrons of am-- Collecting the New Tax. Announcement of increased . taxes on race tracks and a levy on tickets of admission to such places of amusement, as moving -- pic-- turo shows, theatrés, concert halls, skating rinks, baseball and la-- crosse parks and circuses was made in the course of Hon. T. W. McGarry's exhaustive financial statement in the Legislature yesterday. From -- these sources it is estimated that a revenue of $450,000 per annum will be derived. The tax on race tracks will be raised from $500 to $1,250 per day, while a toll of one cent will be taken from patrons of the type of entertainment mentioned. Six race tracks are af-- fected, namely, the Woodbine, Duf-- ferin Park and Hillecrest, all of Tor-- onto, and Hamilton, Fort Erie and Windsor. Race Track Taxation Raised to $1,250 Per Day --One Cent on Amusement Tick-- ets -- Treasurer Claims Province Has Surplus on WAR TAXATION GROWS TO MEET ONTARIO NEEDS WEDNESDAY, 1916. a direct tax has been put on profits on business. "I do--not find fault with that tax," said the Provincial Treasurer. "T commend tha+ tax. I say on behalf of the Government. of this Province and the people of this Province tha; any imposition that the Minister of, Finance at Ottawa finds it necessary to make in order to pur-- sue this war to a successful conclu-- sion we entirely agree with but when the war is over there will come a time in the history of this Pro-- vince and also a time in the history of the Dominion when we must re-- gulate our financial dealings Cor the future, and among those financial dealings nothing will be more im-- portant than taxation of the people. We desire that that will be as fairly imposed as possible, but we wish to have a clear field for the imposition of those taxes within the compass which has been allotted us by Con-- federation. When that time arrives it will be the duty of the Government of this Province to gee we are given the right to impose within the limita-- tions of the British North America act, and make such taxation as we fsel necessary. MAinds that the Dominion -- Govern-- ; ment _ would adopt the indirect method, but duriqg the present year '"'We have decided that there are certain forms of amusement which must pay a greater tribute to the ex-- chequer of this Province . It is our intention to bring in legislation im-- posing upon all race tracks doing busi-- ness in the Province a tax of $1,250 per day. The tax at the present time is $500 per day. In that way we will receive, instead of $40,000, $100,000 per year. * "In addition to that we intend tax-- | ing the people ®who like to spend the evening at the picture show or some other amusement. _ After -- carefully, considering this legislation, after hay-- ing taken, so far as we could, an ln-! ventory of the amount of business which these people are carrying on, we | have detided to place a tax upon the | patrons of these shows which may bel paid by the owner of the show, but / it will be on the patrons of places of j amusement." l No Radical Change. "I do not believe, nor does this ffovernment believe, that the present is the time to change radically our system of taxation. * '"'We hbhave decided that we must have more money, not be-- cause we had a deficit, and not because we expect a deficit next year, but because we wish to have money with which to give and give willingly and liberally for the object of terminating this war at the earliest possible date. 'This, he stated, means theatres, moving picture houses, amuse_ment halls, concert halls, circuses, base-- ball parks, skating rinks or other places which come under the category. He added that that tax of one cent might be increased to 25 cents by re-- gulation and order in Council. Tak-- ing that tax at one cent, he estimat-- ed they would received about $3850,-- 000 in the Province. In other words, it was reckoned there were 35,000,000 admissions to the various places of amusement. Excluded from the op-- eration of this tax would be all enter-- tainments for a philanthropic, religi-- ous or patriotic purpose. He would give further information with respect to these two sources of taxation when the bilis are brought down in the House. No Income Tax Now. Will Tax Amusements to Add to Revenue With reference to talk about taxa-- tion of income, the Provincial Trea-- surer declared: *"Until such time as the Government of Ontario is able to meet the representatives of the muni-- cipalities, and able to arrive at an agreement whereby the municipalities will give us a clear field for taxation of income, until that moment arrives we cannot impose any taxation." The Minister also stated it had been sug--

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