From: "Richard Martin" <rmartin@aw.sgi.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996 09:00:38 +0800
To: "E. ALLEN SMITH" <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Canucks using weird money to pay odd taxes.
In-Reply-To: <01I1O9GN8B1CAKTN7G@mbcl.rutgers.edu>
Message-ID: <9602261759.ZM21160@glacius.alias.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



On Feb 26,  3:16pm, E. ALLEN SMITH wrote:
> One wonders if they're trying this for all internet providers (unenforcable),
> or just the ones setting up in that province (they'll leave).
>
> >TAX MAN TARGETS CYBERSPACE
> >The Nova Scotia government announced the province's 11% sales tax will be
> >applied to Internet services, including flat monthly charges, time charges
> >and registration, effective March 1. (Toronto Globe & Mail 23 Feb 96 B3)

I *think* that the Federal GST already applies to internet services: 7% on
all goods and services, and internet service provider as a term seems to
leave you wide open. The suggestion that this would drive out ISPs trying
to set up in NS is odd; the tax will make internet access more expensive in
NS, but with distances what they are in Atlantic Canada, there aren't many
options for going elsewhere. If it does anything, it'll drive the customers
of ISPs away, probably to New Brunswick. (Frank McKenna's government in NB
has made wiring the province a crusade, to the point where it is probably
the best-wired province in Canada, and much of it would rank against Toronto,
Montreal or Ottawa for sheer connectivity. At a CATA conference a year or so
ago, someone talking about the SchoolNet initiative remarked that, "in New
Brunswick, the washrooms had wire.")


> >CASHLESS SOCIETY TO COST GOVERNMENTS

This topic probably mainly comes up since the government of Canada is
currently making a tidy amount on the doubloonie, our new $2CDN piece.
[Rather pretty, two-tone, unfortunately, the copperish centre tends to
 come out with a little pressure, leading to the term, "pieces of two".]
Um. I rather doubt that the Bank of Canada is most worried about losing
money because people aren't using its cash any more; their greater worry
I would expect to be that they'll lose what precious control they have
of the Canadian economy.

This tenuous grip (though driven from the south) is fairly precious, and
becomes more so when faced with the prospect of Quebec trying to run its
economy without a central bank or currency.

richard =)

-- 
Richard Martin
Alias|Wavefront - Toronto Office [Co-op Software Developer, Games Team]
rmartin@aw.sgi.com/g4frodo@cdf.toronto.edu      http://www.io.org/~samwise
Trinity College UofT ChemPhysCompSci 9T7+PEY=9T8 Shad Valley Waterloo 1992