Realpolitiks with . . .
Kevin Penny
As difficult as it is to admit it, someone’s got to call out the elephant in the room: we’re getting fat.
Now when I say ‘we’, I don’t mean all humans in general. I’m talking about the average North American, the typical person who passes at least three McDonald’s before they get to work.
Statistics Canada says our kids are fatter, slower and weaker than ever before, and have even lowered the recommended amount of weekly activity because only 15 per cent of Canadians were reaching it.
It sounds to me like easy dining is becoming a problem for us, and it worries me. We’ve gone from lean hunter-gatherers to just plain gatherers in just a few short millennia and it’s causing us to gain a few pounds.
A fast-food tax would do several things to benefit our society. First off, raising the costs would deter people from those spontaneous binge trips.
There will always be the die-hard addicts who need their McFix, but the fast-food joints would soon see a dip in their profits from less people going, forcing them to raise their prices.
Two things could happen from here: either the fast-food companies sue the government for discrimination, or they shape up their food to healthier standards and thus, higher quality food. It might force some things off the menu, but a 700-calorie burger isn’t an essential part of your diet in the first place.
Medical experts have been urging for some sort of fast-food tax for the past decade now, yet we still haven’t acted on the call.
I would think that the health and wellbeing of our society would be first and foremost on the government’s mind, but so far we’ve been left to fend for ourselves while they bicker amongst themselves.
Everyone has free will and people should be allowed to eat whatever they want.
The thing lacking in society is common sense, however, and it’s causing us to poison our bodies with salts and animal by-products.
A fast-food tax would be much like a tobacco tax: it gives some people a reason to quit smoking, but the majority of users will say, ‘Nuts to the consequences I want my cigarette.’
Fast food is a guilty pleasure, plain and simple. I admit to jonesing once in a while for a burger and onion rings, and I feel good when I get it.
I know it’s a horrible habit though, and I’m constantly fighting like a junkie trying to kick the habit. Staying healthy is hard work, so preparing your food shouldn’t be as easy as a couple bucks at a drive-thru.
Food is art and it is culture. In no circumstances should it ever be ‘fast’. When we mechanize the whole process of eating, we lose ourselves in the simplicity of it all. Taxing the junk food in society will help bring back our roots of eating at home with the family, instead of on the road.
Besides, it tastes awful in the first place.
Kevin Penny is a 21-year-old, second-year journalism student at Grant MacEwan University. As a tenderfoot journalist, he looks to give some straight sense in the world of politics by defending truth, justice and the freedom of choice.
Mitch Cooper
As the baby-boomer generation moves into retirement and depends more on Canada’s health care system, health care costs will rise above the available tax revenue to pay for the services demanded. New sources of funding and new policy on how Canada delivers health care services will need reviewing in order to sustain the system.
One proposed method to decrease costs is to implement preventative care measures, which include taxing behaviours and more specifically foods that negatively affect Canadians health and subsequently increase their demands for health services.
This proposal is the wrong solution for several reasons. First, the foods that most people view as unhealthy are consumed mostly by lower income Canadians who cannot afford healthier options. Implementing taxes on lower cost food such as cheeseburgers and fried goods would hurt the most vulnerable in our society.
Secondly, the idea of taxing what Canadians consume to alter behaviour in order to reduce health costs is reducing our civil liberties. If Canadians want to eat a bag of M&M’s every day, along with three milkshakes, they should have the right to make that choice and not be punished by the tax system.
Government’s role is not to dictate to citizens how they should live their lives, but to facilitate the demands of the electorate. Canadians know that eating unhealthy food negatively impacts their health, yet if a Canadian citizen chooses to consume unhealthy food, they should have the right and not be taxed by the government for their actions.
The argument is that those who cost the system the most money because of poor personal decisions should pay their share of health care costs. This makes sense, but this principle should not be emphasized in the tax system, over the greater right of the individual to choose his or her lifestyle.
This argument was voiced quite loudly in the U.S. debate over implementing a single-payer health care system. Opinion against this notion made clear, that once government controls an individual’s health care costs, government then acquires the right to control a new range of aspects in that citizen’s life.
However, because Canadians are not afforded the option to obtain alternative private health care, our government is forfeiting their right to intervene in our lives to help reduce health care costs.
An alternative to taxing behaviour and foods deemed unhealthy is to promote healthier living through reduced taxation on healthy goods. By promoting healthier lifestyles, healthy choices can become more affordable, personal freedoms are maintained and government will is not being imposed on the population.
James Madison said, “I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” This applies directly to the proposition of taxing unhealthy food to alter behaviour. While it appears to be small and necessary, it is important for Canadians to hold onto the liberties we possess. Being influenced and punished by government for our choices is not healthy for democratic society, individual freedom and our personal liberties.
Mitchell Cooper is a 22-year-old, third-year Grant MacEwan University political science student with ambitions to attend law school. He’s worked two years in government, and on several political campaigns. He hopes to have the privilege of holding public office one day.
Intercamp 