14% Tax isn't so bad when you have national Health Care. (You do have national Health Care?)
Yeah, but it's not just 14% tax. That's the retail tax. We're also assessed a pile of other taxes as well. Basically I lose about 35-40% of my salary off my paycheck to "taxes". That includes things like Employment Insurance (unemployment insurance if you prefer), Canada pension plan (old age security pension), Federal Tax, union dues, etc. We also have pretty serious sin taxes - gas locally is $3.32 a gallon (four liters) in Canadian dollars so about $2.65 US. A 26 oz bottle of Vodka will run you well over $20 CAD. A dozen beer run around $16.
As for the national health care, it is indeed there and accessible to everyone. The true benefit being for the poor and elderly in that respect. But it's not without huge problems. Waiting lists are absurd. I have to book 3 months in advance for a physical; my wife waited over a year for knee surgery and don't get me started on how palliative patients are handled by the system (the staff are fantastic, the system handicaps them
).
You can decide if it's a great system or not, but it's likely misrepresented in the media on that side of the border, much as the US system is here.
Sorry for the tangent.
