Kris Sims was one of the few people who did not before B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services to ask for money.
The nine-person committee is currently touring the province, collecting public input in advance of the next provincial budget, and Sims, the B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, drove from the Fraser Valley to Cranbrook, where the dommittee was in session Thursday.
She came armed with a top 10 list of items the CTF and its 15,000-strong B.C. membership wanted to see.
1. Balance the budget. 乌鸦传媒淚f there乌鸦传媒檚 one thing that gets our supporters riled up, getting people writing letters to the editor and calling talk radio stations, they say 乌鸦传媒楤alance our budget.乌鸦传媒� They don乌鸦传媒檛 like to see deficits, they don乌鸦传媒檛 like to see province going further into debt, because they know what it does to their own household.乌鸦传媒�
2. Cancel the B.C. carbon tax. 乌鸦传媒淧eople are fed up with it,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淎nd top of that we found out during the last mini-budget that it乌鸦传媒檚 not even going to revenue-neutral anymore, and it hasn乌鸦传媒檛 been revenue neutral for several years. The Fraser Institute, one of our colleagues, found that the previous government had been taking old tax credits 乌鸦传媒� years old 乌鸦传媒� and adding them to the balance sheet of the current budget, for the carbon tax, to make it look balanced and neutral. It wasn乌鸦传媒檛. It was costing families $800 a year.乌鸦传媒�
3. Eliminate the Medical Services Plan premium: 乌鸦传媒淲e were very happy to see the MSP cut by 50 per cent by the previous government,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淎nd this new government to finishing it off 乌鸦传媒� eliminating it 100 per cent.乌鸦传媒�
4. Stop raiding Crown Corporations: 乌鸦传媒淚f you乌鸦传媒檝e got a budget shortfall, don乌鸦传媒檛 turn around and scoop money out of places like ICBC and BC Hydro,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淲e are ratepayers for those services, and when we see our money going to things other than auto insurance and hydro prices and just being used to paper over a budget shortfall, that really ticks people off.乌鸦传媒�
5. On ICBC: 乌鸦传媒淲e think it needs an overhaul, not just a tune-up,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淲e think ICBC should be turned into a co-op. Turn it into something like Mountain Equipment Co-op or VanCity. Make it owned by B.C. drivers, so if you choose to take your basic auto insurance out with this nice new ICBC co-op, you can do that. And then open that co-op up to private competition from other companies. So if you乌鸦传媒檙e a great driver, you can shop around and get a lower rate.乌鸦传媒�
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6. Don乌鸦传媒檛 kill the Site C dam: 乌鸦传媒淲e say this with cautions,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淏y now, we乌鸦传媒檙e in it. When we asked our supporters, they said don乌鸦传媒檛 kill it, be as stringent and prudent and careful as possible, but we乌鸦传媒檝e invested so much money in it now, better to see it through. 乌鸦传媒� If we bail out now, BC Hydro at least is saying that it will cost $7 billion.乌鸦传媒�
7. Get government contracts, including boards and councils, under control. 乌鸦传媒淥ne of the heads of TransLink makes more than the Prime Minister of Canada, as does her second-in-command,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淭here are tons of boards like this, and they乌鸦传媒檙e basically permanent government. People don乌鸦传媒檛 hear about them or know about them, they乌鸦传媒檙e not elected, but they乌鸦传媒檙e paid an outrageous amount of money.乌鸦传媒�
8. Eliminate the vote tax: 乌鸦传媒淭he government has imposed a transition fund 乌鸦传媒� a vote tax of $16 million that乌鸦传媒檚 coming out of taxpayers乌鸦传媒� pockets,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淲hen you break it down per vote it doesn乌鸦传媒檛 sound like a lot of money. But most people don乌鸦传媒檛 want their tax dollar going to a lawn sign or an attack ad. If you乌鸦传媒檙e running for any political party, raise your own money.乌鸦传媒�
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9. Don乌鸦传媒檛 block the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion: 乌鸦传媒淲e understand there are concerns,乌鸦传媒� Sims said. 乌鸦传媒淲e also understand the Trudeau Liberal government has approved it, and that lots and lots of people and lots of boards have reviewed this. If we rely on these important economic engines of our economy, and we allow them to continue things like Kinder Morgan, it helps the tax base.乌鸦传媒�
10. Reduce spending and lower taxes: 乌鸦传媒淭he men and women on the pre-budget committee are getting swamped with spending requests. We乌鸦传媒檙e there to say stop. Cut your spending, and reduce our taxes. And as far as we can tell, we among the only people going to these meetings saying, 乌鸦传媒楶lease stop!乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation came into being as a response to the implementation of the goods and services tax in 1990.
