Conscientious evaders

>> A Montreal couple offers tips on how to not fund Canada’s military

by NOEMI LOPINTO

Louis and Maryse Azzaria are the kind of people who put their money where their mouths are. The couple, who have been married for 40 years, are lobbyists for the group “Nos impots pour la paix” (NIPP—Our Taxes for Peace). They spoke before a small audience at the Centre Marie-Gérin-Lajoie on Saturday, February 16, about their loathing for the machinery of war and their refusal to pay for it at tax time. They are hoping others will feel compelled to do the same.

Maryse Azzaria, 63, says the old maxim about death and taxes isn’t necessarily true. “This is about individual’s conscience,” says Azzaria, “saying: ‘I am not participating.’ This is not to say that if we starve the military financially there won’t be any more war, it would be foolish to think that. But becoming more conscious of what is going on is an important element.”
According to Finance Canada, the 2001 budget provides more than $1.6-billion to double the size the Canadian Forces’ elite anti-terrorist unit; support Canadian military participation in the international war on terrorism; fund military equipment purchases; improve laboratories and purchase specialized equipment to strengthen Canada’s ability to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear threats. And $7.7-billion is pledged over the next five years to “enhance security” in Canada, with $6.5-billion going to air security and the military. According to NIPP, each Canadian pays more than $350 a year, as well as donating 7 to 8 per cent of their returns, on military spending.

What NIPP would like Canadian tax payers to do is redirect the 7 to 8 per cent of their returns slotted for military spending to a fund for peace. Last year, NIPP members deposited a total $1,046.74 in such a fund. “If you owe the government $100,” says Azzaria, “you can send off a cheque for $93, and send the difference to us, which we deposit in a fund for that purpose. We ask that you write a letter to the Minister of Finance, to your MP and to the local newspaper, demanding the creation of a fund for peace, legal recognition of conscientious objectors, and a reimbursement of the military part of your taxes. Or you can write your cheque in two parts, addressing one to the Minister of Revenue and another to the Minister of Health, if you want to contribute there instead.”

Civil disobedience of this kind will not land someone in jail, although delinquents will suffer from a high interest penalty. But the government certainly won’t love you for it. “If you owe the government small amounts every year it might take them time to get to you,” Azzaria says. “It’s when it starts climbing into the thousands that it gets more serious. We had our salary seized. It’s a terrible feeling, you really feel your liberty has been compromised. But this is the worst thing that can happen. But you have to persevere. Since September 11 it’s even more important to say: ‘Not in my name will you go kill others, will you make the flame of hate grow stronger.’” :