143
$
2018
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KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK FRIDAY
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30 CENTS AT NEWSSTANDS
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APRIL 6, 2018 | Volume 31 No. 28
CRAVING THE CUP
IMAGINE THERE’S NO HELL
WEEKEND WEATHER Cloudy, showers High 13 C Low 4 C
Pope Francis did and all you-know-what broke loose
We take an in-depth look at the Blazers’ Memorial Cup bid
DYER/A27
SPORTS/A51
B.C. NDP assessing pending payroll tax JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
Kamloops lawyer David Paul relaxes with Charlie.
LAW GOES TO THE DOGS DALE BASS STAFF REPORTER dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
David Paul knows what will likely happen when he meets a couple seeking a divorce. “Many of these are people going through the worst times they will ever, ever go through,” the Kamloops lawyer said. “When people get into my office, they are often angry and have a hard time working to a satisfactory resolution.” Enter Charlie and, much of the time, everything in the room changes.
Charlie just has a way of bringing the anger level down and helping induce a calm that might lead to the warring couple working to end their marriage without hating each other. Charlie is inspirational for a puppy — albeit one big purebred poodle pup. He has already worked his magic in the Paul family and has, in a roundabout way, led to Paul having his master’s degree thesis published by Harvard University.
SERVING WESTERN CANADA SINCE 1929
See WORK, A6
Consultations are underway to assess potential “consequences” of the new health-care payroll tax in advance of its 2019 implementation, B.C.’s premier said Thursday. “This is not a tax that has been implemented,” Premier John Horgan said at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. “It is a tax that will be implemented and I think a mature and responsible government looks around. They implement policy and they gauge what the consequences of those policies are. That’s what we’re doing.” The province announced in its February budget plans
to charge a new payroll tax to businesses with payrolls over $500,000 as it works to fulfill a campaign promise to axe MSP premiums. “We told British Columbians who paid medical services premiums that they would not at the end of our term,” Horgan said. Non-profits and government-funded institutions are not exempt from the payroll tax. B.C. Wildlife Park executive director Glenn Grant has told KTW the tax, coupled with increases to the minimum wage, will add significant financial pressure to the non-profit that could result in closing the park down the road. “With respect to not-for-profits, minister Carole James is consulting widely to hear from people about what the
KAMLOOPS - 975 NOTRE DAME DRIVE - 250.372.7515
consequences will be,” Horgan said. Non-profits aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch. The City of Kamloops expects to pay an extra $100,000 to $200,000 under the new payroll tax and the Kamloops-Thompson school district anticipates paying an additional $250,000. “Certainly, minster Fleming, minster of education, is talking to school boards all the time,” Horgan said. “School boards pay medical services premiums for their employees now and this year that cost will be cut in half. We’re not asking, as previous governments would have done, to claw back those savings. We’re leaving those savings with school boards.” See HORGAN, A5