Well said

Brian Topp laments the reverse Robin Hood principle that's been applied by Libs and Cons alike to ensure that less-wealthy Canadians pay more and get less for the benefit of those who already have money to burn:

The previous Liberal and current Conservative governments have pretended to cut taxes. In fact, in good part they have simply transferred taxes from those most able to pay them (profitable companies and wealthy individuals) to those least able to do so (the unemployed). This is reverse-Robin Hood economics, taking from the poor and giving to the rich.

In the process the Liberals and Conservatives have moved a significant portion of the tax burden (in net terms, almost $60-billion in recent years) from relatively progressive income and consumption taxes, to a grossly regressive poll tax.
...
Canada's federal government today is largely irrelevant to the daily lives of Canadians. That is why federal politics are increasingly driven by symbolic issues that have little to do with the underlying work of Parliament or its government. The consequences can be measured in growing income disparity; eroding economic competitiveness; rising foreign ownership and economic hollowing-out; rising poverty and household debt; and a subtle, pervasive unraveling of the strands of solidarity, mutual aid and common endeavour that bind us together as a society. This is the legacy Mr. Martin and Mr. Harper will leave their successors – no more clearly underlined that in the disgraceful mess they have made of income security in Canada.