I found the business-oriented diatribe from B.C. Chamber of Commerce head, John Winter, in last Friday's editorial, absolutely nauseating. To listen to him gloat over the inevitable foisting of the HST on the helpless citizens of B.C. infuriates me.
We do need to provide a competitive climate for business, even if it means competing with Third World countries, which will erode our standard of living. I've read on these very pages that Canada has the second lowest corporate tax rate in the world and P.G. the 10th lowest in Canada. I would say that's competitive enough.
Local industry is here to mine the finite resources that belong to all Canadians and will pull up stakes as fast as those resources dry up. The forest industry in particular enjoys some of the highest quality fibre in the world and I'd say it's worth a slight tax premium.
We all know the corporate mentality is to minimize jobs and maximize profits in the good times and cut even deeper in bad times. Additional tax breaks to industry will not create a single job and the dollars will flow out of our community into the hands of international shareholders.
I'm trying to survive on a 30 per cent wage reduction due to the recession and I've had more than enough of government taxes and fees constantly rising at two, three or four times the rate of inflation.
My municipal taxes went up 19 per cent this year. Note to council: I work for a major forestry player in this town and my wages have increased 14 per cent over a 10-year period to the end of the current contract.
Politicians continually treat the public purse like a bottomless pit, which is reprehensible at the best of times, but absolutely unconscionable in the midst of the deep recession many of us are struggling through.
What about our seniors on fixed incomes? You're squeezing the bloody life out of them.
Enough is enough Mr. Winter. Whether you're right or wrong, we can't pay any more.
Peter Bernier
Prince George
