–noun 1. the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens.

This is proving to be an interesting year in the humble perspective of one Realtor and the common thread through most of my observations is a heightened determination by government  to influence and  manipulate the ability to buy homes. 

Perhaps our strongest and most entrenched basic  need is for shelter. Our location on the big orb is such that shelter is not just a want or a status symbol here in Canada. It is a vital requirement if not a right that we die without. Hundreds of homeless people who have slipped through the societal cracks confirm this each year.

The provincial government in Ontario has determined that as of July this year all of the services we require to purchase and maintain the shelters we inhabit should be requiring a larger percentage of the income we earn if we want to make use of them. The new harmonized sales tax insures this. Thousands of dollars of each of our incomes that in  past years we would have spent on the goods and services that keep our economic engine firing along will be diverted into the coffers of our government who now will determine on our behalf how to best spend it.

The federal government has decided that the opportunity to own the shelters we inhabit is just a bit too easy for its people and as of this week has set the bar a bit higher shifting a significant percentage of their Canadian constituents from the have to have not side of that bar and pushing the goal of home ownership further into the future if not totally out of reach for hundreds of thousands more across Canada. In addition to new lending rules the federal government is and will continue to inch up the cost of borrowing  from the levels that have stimulated housing and new business growth for the past decade.

All of this is in our better interest folks, far be it for us to determine our own fiscal risk and reward in this lifetime.

As the cost of governing spirals upward it is you and me who must foot the bill, I begrudgingly understand the concept but where does the average family on a fixed income turn when their costs begin to spiral beyond the point of manageability? The government of course. I wish someone much smarter than I would study this cycle of finances. Scientists have determined the intracacies of the flow of the water that covers 2/3 of the planet down to the gallon yet no Nobel laureate has been able to highlight and correct the blatant  redundancies and inefficiencies of the flow of money back and forth between the government and the people, at least they are not telling us if they have.

Will the changes to finance and taxes benifit you and me in the short and long term? I have my doubts.

I subscribe to the notion “if it aint broke don’t fix it” and I would like to expand on that a bit..”if you don’t know for sure if its broke and attempts to fix are merely assumptions, then keep your damn hands off it!”