Carole James says cancel Corporate Tax Cuts to establish new Green Fund

A new plan by NDP Leader Carole James to scrap legislated tax reductions for rural industries will devastate job creation during the worst economic downturn in 27 years and ignores concerns raised by local governments at the UBCM convention, Government House Leader Mike de Jong said today.

“At a time when local governments have made their concerns clear that local, job-creating industries are challenged in their ability to pay their municipal taxes, Carole James wants to clobber those same industries with even more costs,” said de Jong. “That is going to put even more pressure on local governments and destroy jobs in communities in every region of the province.”

De Jong was responding to an announcement today by Carole James that she would scrap corporate income tax reductions that have been legislated as part of the revenue-neutral carbon tax. This comes on the heels of active debates and resolutions at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver in which local governments expressed ongoing concern about the ability of local industries to remain viable and afford to pay their existing property tax bills.

“The NDP has absolutely no credibility on the carbon tax, or on any tax for that matter,” said de Jong. “They have rejected every tax cut brought forward since 2001, and proposed $1 billion in new taxes on our economy during the election. Now they want to eliminate key tax reductions that are fundamental to creating new jobs and protecting existing jobs in our communities. This goes completely against the spirit of what the UBCM membership is trying to achieve.”

This follows the NDP’s recent rejection of the provincial budget that provides everyone earning up to $118,000 with the lowest personal taxes in Canada, and the NDP’s rejection of the government plan to raise the small business tax threshold and reduce the small business tax rate to zero by 2012.

“The NDP has flip-flopped on the carbon tax since it was introduced. First they supported it, then they ran on a platform of eliminating it, and then after the voters endorsed it they said they agreed with it. Now they want to turn it from revenue-neutral to pure revenue,” said de Jong. “In these economic times, our industries can’t afford the type of instability that the NDP is creating with these ever-changing positions. Businesses currently pay 70 per cent of total carbon taxes, and industry has been clear that the associated tax cuts are critical for them to remain internationally competitive and protect jobs.”