It often seems these days that our governments are careening toward a cliff. All three levels are strapped, struggling to provide adequate services to the population, caught in a vicious circle as their primary source of revenue to pay for rising costs comes from taxpayers themselves, whose pockets are getting shallower and shallower.

The federal government is responsible for national defence, foreign affairs, Indigenous services, social security and income security. The provincial government funds health care and its institutions, the education system, transport infrastructure for highways, etc. — all of which desperately needs more money.

Municipalities struggle to keep up with maintaining parks and buildings, public transit, snow and waste removal, repairing crumbling roads and underground sewers. They need more funding and revenue streams from the province, which needs more transfer payments from the federal government, which needs more money primarily from, well, Canadians.

Elected officials, who every four years must reapply for their jobs, are caught between walls that are seemingly closing in. Often punished if they don’t deliver on providing adequate services, the alternative of raising taxes or........

© Montreal Gazette