Northern Connector, February 22, 2013

Page 1

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Inside

◆ NEWS Chamber wants taxing studied, P. 2 ◆ NEWS BC Ferries to pay less in tax, P. 12

◆ SPORTS Tournament results, P. 8 & 9 ◆ CLASSIFIEDS, P. 15-21

Free FRIDAY, February 22, 2013

Volume 7 Issue 33

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QUINN BENDER / THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR

PRINCE RUPERT - MVP Darren Metz of the Kitamaat Haisla Pride reacts after his team won the Intermediate Division title at the 54th annual All Native Basketball Tournament. The Pride came through the losers bracket to win it all, beating Ahousat 70-67 in the final gane.

Liberal budget would raise some taxes By Tom Fletcher

THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR

VICTORIA – The B.C. Liberals’ pre-election budget proposes to implement income tax increases on business and higher-income individuals, similar to proposals from the NDP opposition. The corporate income tax rate would rise one point to 11 per cent effective April 1, accelerating by a year an increase announced in 2012. NDP leader Adrian Dix has repeatedly promised to increase the corporate rate to 12 per cent, where it was in 2008. In Finance Minister Mike de Jong’s budget, tabled Tuesday, personal income taxes for those earning $150,000 or more would rise 2.1 per cent to 16.8 per cent for two years, starting next Janu-

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ary. That increase is to be rolled back to the current rate of 14.7 per cent in 2015, de Jong said. Dix has indicated that if the NDP forms government, he would impose an income tax increase for those earning $150,000 or more a year, with specifics promised in the NDP election platform. De Jong stressed that B.C.’s personal income tax rates are still the lowest in Canada for those earning up to $122,000 a year. With a provincial election set for May 14, this budget will not be passed by the time the brief legislature session ends in late March. Its measures are part of a campaign platform for Clark’s government, and the winner of the election must pass a budget in the fall. Also proposed is a tobacco

I O R US O L G

tax hike of $2 per carton of cigarettes. De Jong said the effective date is held off until Oct. 1 to give people time to quit smoking, with 100,000 B.C. residents currently taking advantage of a provincial program offering free nicotine patches, gum or approved prescription drugs. The last tobacco tax increase was seven per cent when the harmonized sales tax was implemented in 2010, replacing the provincial sales tax that didn’t apply to tobacco. That tax is to be retained when the province reverts to the PST on April 1. De Jong’s budget also proposes to phase out school property tax credits for light industry for the 2013 budget year. De Jong’s projections call for spending to increase by 1.5 per cent overall in the coming three

INTERNET PLANS

years, with health care spending increases of 2.3, 2.7 and 2.2 per cent over the same period. “This is not enough even to maintain existing health care services, given the cost of population growth and inflation, not to mention what’s needed to make needed improvements,” said Debra McPherson, president of the B.C. Nurses’ Union. “As a result, health authorities will be forced to continue jamming hospital patients into offices, lounges and other areas not designed for patient care, as well as using hallways to take up the slack.” The budget also adds a four per cent increase in Medical Services Plan premiums to take effect next January, the latest in a series of increases paid by individuals or their employers for basic medical care.

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