Just when you thought it was safe to take out your wallet, here comes Trudeau with another tax.
First it was the internet tax. Then we learned about their plan for a health tax. Now to pay for Trudeau’s out-of-control deficit spending, he wants to bring in a tax on soft drinks.
They will try to dress this up as a way to “combat obesity” but we know that’s just another Liberal lie. “Combating obesity” is just the latest Liberal buzz-word to justify a bigger nanny state.
This soft drink tax is being pushed by the largest promoter of big government, the United Nations.
“…the United Nations health agency called on governments to slap an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, fruit drinks, sports drinks, energy and vitamin water drinks, sweetened iced tea and lemonade”
Notice what is missing from that list? Big surprise, the latte-sipping liberal elites left Starbucks Lattes off the list. Many of the most popular drinks at Starbucks contain more sugar per milliliter then Coke or Pepsi. Drinks favored by the wealthy elite get a pass but the popular drinks loved by regular Canadians get taxed.
Soft Drink Taxes Have Unintended Consequences
Taxing soft drinks can have unintended consequences. Denmark had a soft drink tax from 1930 to 2013. They repealed it and a fat tax because consumers simply went to Germany or Sweden to stock up on soda.
In a report by the U.K based Institute for Fiscal Studies on a proposed soft drink tax in Great Britain they note that taxing soft drinks shifts consumers to buy alternatives beverages containing fat.
A soft drink tax might help the bottom line for Starbucks and Corona but it won’t do anything for the waistlines of Canadians.
Let the Market Decide
Canadians don’t need Trudeau to tell them what to eat and drink. If we had a government that actually trusted individuals to make their own decisions Trudeau might be surprised to learn we can manage our diets just fine.
Sales of soft drinks in Canada have been declining by 4% per year for the last ten years. In 2006 the average Canadian consumed 104 liters of pop per year. By 2014 that number had dropped to 65 liters per year. That is at the same time as prices for soft drinks have gone down.
Canadians are already choosing to drink healthier drinks. Soft drinks are just Trudeau’s latest target for taxation to pay for his out of control spending.