Dear Editor:
B.C. is too broke to meet its obligations to properly fund education, health care, the court system, the ferries and many other vital services, but it isn't because of a world recession or plain bad luck.
The Campbell-Clark government is in hock because that is the inevitable result of its major fiscal policy. We have been dropped into a season of contract showdowns, hostility, growing debt and eroded social programs because the B.C. Liberals have deliberately cut away badly needed revenues from their corporate friends.
Like Republican leaders in the U.S., our ruling politicians clearly believe that tax breaks for big business are more important than such matters as controlling debt and providing high standards in our public schools, hospitals and justice system.
Since the Liberals took over in 2001, the corporate income tax rate has dropped from 16.5 per cent to 10 per cent. Personal tax rates have declined too, but fees for services keep rising. And the top one per cent of money earners now save about $41,000 more in taxes per year - more than the total income of many British Columbians.
There were billions of dollars for Olympic Games, stadium renovations, bridges to temporarily speed up commuter traffic, and buying ferries in Germany instead of building them here. As these wonderful things were done, the government boasted about its world-beating fiscal management. But today, as its debt mushrooms and strikes and discontent loom, suddenly we're broke and it's all the fault of world recession.
Meanwhile the latest B.C. budget predicts that corporate profits will hit close to $25 billion this year.
Too bad a fair share of that won't be available to help the "ordinary" taxpayers as they stagger under the load.
Tony Eberts, New Westminster
