Abbotsford News Friday, June 19, 2015
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myBusiness E N G AG I N G C O N S U M E R S • B U I L D I N G C O M M U N I T Y
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New policy agenda set at 2015 Chamber AGM Conference The BC Chamber Annual General Meeting and Conference held in Prince George May 24 to 26 saw business leaders from across the province meet to set new policy agendas. Among those in attendance were Abbotsford Chamber president Josh Bach, vicepresident Kenda Allen, board member Mark Dana and executive director Allan Asaph. The BC Chamber of Commerce is asking the province for a more transparent approach to taxation in B.C., innovation in regional solid waste management, and community and local government policies on re-balancing municipalities
and regional districts, and for a provincial role in municipal restructuring, among others. “Tax burdens have been shifting away from a reliance on personal and corporate tax through a move by government to increased fees and more regressive consumption taxes. Businesses and individuals in B.C. are hit with a complex and confusing barrage of taxes, fees, offsets and credits which prevents a clear understanding of the true overall tax burden and erodes public trust. We are asking the provincial government to develop a full and comprehensive means of measuring the overall corporate and individual tax burden on a provincial and
municipal basis. If the overall tax burden was understood, the effectiveness of changes to tax measures and programs could be measured by changes in the overall tax burden,” Asaph said.
tourism initiative to increase revenue for local business; increased enforcement of tax and duty collection at border crossings to reduce business loss; and making tourism funding more secure.
border crossings. The federal government is also launching a major three-year campaign to increase U.S. tourism, providing an added incentive for increased visitor spending in Canada.
This year, delegates debated and voted on nearly 50 proposed policies. Those approved included: changes to the property purchase tax to make housing more affordable; promoting innovation in regional solid waste management; and a more transparent approach to taxation in B.C.
“The tourism industry needs the assurance of secured levels of funding to ensure effective long-term planning and to remain competitive. The provincial government needs to follow through on its commitment to the growth and continued strength of tourism in the province.”
“The federal government has clearly stated that it has no plans to create an exemption for day trips to the U.S. under 24 hours as it would disadvantage retailers in border communities and elsewhere in Canada,” says Asaph. “The reality is that Canadian Border Services officers use a criteria that allows them to routinely wave through day travellers without the collection of taxes owing. We have asked the federal government to provide sufficient resources to
Policies brought forward by the Abbotsford Chamber that were adopted by the B.C. Chamber included: a new
The Chamber is proposing a three-year pilot project to rebate the five per cent GST to travelers returning with goods to the U.S. through land
enable consistent collection of taxes and duties at all border crossings.” Overall, Asaph says it was a successful AGM for the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, as all three of their proposed resolutions were approved. “Since two of our resolutions involve federal legislation, we will be presenting them at the policy sessions of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM in Ottawa in October,” he says. “Going forward, we will be looking at all the approved resolutions to ensure that we focus our advocacy efforts on those issues of most importance to our local members.”
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