Premier Gordon Campbell’s 10-point economic plan, unveiled Oct. 22, is being seen two ways by regional legislative representatives.
East Kootenay MLA and Minister for Tourism, Culture and Arts Bill Bennett says it will support families and boost productivity thanks to accelerated tax relief for small business, a school property tax rebate for industry and a retroactive personal income tax cut.
But Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald (NDP) sees it as “rather modest” and believes it will “do little for most people in Columbia River-Revelstoke. Most of the tax changes announced were simply cuts that had already been announced, now with earlier implementation dates. And Campbell’s gas tax annual increases take most of those tax savings back from individuals and small businesses.”
Bennett says the NDP’s reaction to the premier’s plan is indicative of their past failures at keeping B.C.’s economy strong.
The NDP needs to help rural B.C. businesses create jobs and boost rural economies by supporting rather than drive investment and jobs out of British Columbia, Bennett stated.
“The NDP have consistently voted against every single one of the tax reductions our government has introduced. It’s time they stopped preaching the disgraced economic strategies that turned B.C. into a have-not province in the 1990s and support a plan that will work by stimulating rural economies and creating jobs for our residents,” he said.
Bennett said the premier’s plan will benefit consumers and small businesses by putting money back into their pockets. The new plan will result in a 44% cut in the small business corporate income tax this year alone. Combined with the cut announced in the last budget this will mean a saving to small business of $401 million over three years.
“We have also doubled the commission the province pays small businesses to collect the PST and hotel tax. This will mean additional savings of up to $1,200 for small business.
“The NDP has an embarrassingly perfect record of voting against every tax relief measure we brought in. They don’t like it when I say this, but they have consistently voted against benefits for families and business - a voting record against tax cuts that the NDP has maintained since 2001,” he stated.
“What’s crazy is the NDP’s lack of support for rural B.C. These tax cuts will allow small businesses to reinvest in their organizations and grow in their community, creating more jobs for rural British Columbians.
“It’s very simple, but the NDP have never understood how the economy works,” Bennett said.
Macdonald said the premier and the Liberals are avoiding the bigger issues with the provincial economy.
“There are serious economic issues in rural British Columbia that have been obvious for years as our most important industry continues to collapse. Forestry is in crisis but the Campbell Liberals have absolutely no plan to address that crisis. There have been 20,000 forestry jobs lost, over 50 mills closed and there has been no assistance from the Campbell government for forest workers and forest-dependent communities.
“The fact is that the Premier should not have made this speech on the television news; it should have been made in the Legislature.
“But Campbell isn’t recalling the House until the latest possible opportunity, more than six weeks later than originally scheduled,” Macdonald told The Valley Echo.