STOTT TUT STOTT y iY rrewe ER ee APT ERAT AEST AE eS oo IES. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - A1S ‘GST becomes political hot button | LOCAL FEDERAL candi- dates are backing up their leaders” positions on =a ba promise by the Conserva- * tive Party to, if elected, cut “the GST from seven to five per cent over five years. “Canadians are looking - for tax relief. This is what - they want — - will, put. money back. into their pockets,” said Skeena- ‘ didate Mike Scott. “I think The Conservative prom- “ise would cost between $4 : billion and $4.5 billion’ for tax relief that. Bulkley Conservative can-. | each one per cent taken off the current GST rate. Scott said he’s confident that’s possible because of federal budget surpluses. “In government, :a sur- plus is not really a surplus. . It’s over-taxation. A gov- ernment is simply collecting: more money than it needs.” Conservative party lead- . er Stephen Harper’s prom- ise of a GST cut, one per - cent right away if elected Start of the federal election campaign. Scott wasn’t sure yet if. the . Conservatives would also honour the Liberal commitment to reduce in- come taxes that was made last month. “I do know there are two principles fundamental to the Conservative party — tax relief and a reduction in the overall debt,” he said. “Any opportunity we ‘ should have to reduce our debt, we should take.” Although Scott acknowl- been aided by lower interest rates. ° New Democrat Nathan Cullen has dismissed the Conservative promise, say- ing the GST cut won't be as lucrative to middle and lower income ,earners as ’ first suggested. The Conservatives said a cut from seven per cent to five per cent would save a family earning $60,000 a year about $400 a year. “But if you were low or middle income, you’d have to spend a lot to get that ated by the GST on items such as retrofitting houses, saving both heating * costs a ee A ee ST Ls a a ae SERRE RRR aE Raa ES LSS Sa eae eT ES, nee " CANDIDATES IN the Jan. 23 federal « election can count on some taxpayer assistance when it comes to bolstering their campaign budgets, Financing reforms limit the amount corporations and unions, the traditional financiers of political parties, can now donate but the loss is being made. up ° with the help of the public purse. election, qualifying political parties re- ceive $1.75 a year for each vote cast st for their candidates. receive at least two: ‘per cent of the vote nationally. It means the big three, the Conser- vatives, Liberals and NDP, get cheques _ and so does the Green party which re- ceived 4.3 per cent of the vote in 2004. Christian Heritage Party won’t. It ‘didn’t achieve that two per cent nation- al standing although its Skeena-Bulk- ~ ley candidate, Rod Taylor, received 3:8 - per cent of the vote here in 2004. Beginning | ‘with the 2004 federal. The only catch is that parties had to But smaller parties such as the. Based on those Skeena-Bulkley PORE SA OER HD OE A Tax money fuels election riding 2004 election vote tallies, the Conservatives get $21,759.50 a year, the Liberals $13,938.75, the NDP $23,985.50 and the Greens $2,143.75. The annual amounts will change based on the outcome of the 2006 fed- eral election... ~ Political parties receive a second campaign boost from the taxpayer, a. reimbursement based on a formula tied to a candidate’s election expenses and personal expenses compiled during the last election. The 2004 Nathan Cullen campaign was reimbursed $28,859.91 stemming from its expenditure of $53,512.78. He ’ was elected as the NDP MP for Skee- * na-Bulkley. - Conservative Andy Burton’ s expen- ditures of $58,254.27 resulted in a re- imbursement of $31,459.33. Liberal . Miles Richardson’s campaign spent the most in 2004, $74,198.30, but it has only received a partial reimbursement of $13,342.67. There’s no immediate reason why a complete reimbursement has yet,to be made. Rod Taylor of the Christian Heritage Party spent $16,153.98 in campaign and personal expenses but was not eli- gible for any reimbursements ‘because he did not receive at least 10 per cent of the vote. Election strategists have been busy establishing estimates of revenues and expenses using the 2004 spending lim- its as a guideline. could have spent.$88,951.13 in 2004, a figure that is based on the size of the ! voters’ list.” That’s not likely to change signifi- cantly this time buta preliminary figure hasn’t been established yet. Based on the 2004 campaign spend- ing experience, it’s also unlikely any of | the candidates will come close to the | maximum. The reforms to political party fi- nancing limit corporate and union do- nations to $1,000 a year and donations from individuals to $5,000 a year. Each candidate in Bulkley- Skeena and health care costs. “We see people in the northwest living in mould- infested houses and they end up going to the hospital. What would the savings be in terms of health care costs if they didn’t go to the hos- pital,” said Cullen. “I’m saying doing’ this . would have a much _big- ger benefit. It’s a matter of using the tax system to do something for people.” this will benefit middle and and the second one percent edged the federal Liberals saving,” said Cullen. « Cullen felt Harper intro- low ancome earners the within five years, became have reduced the overall He favours the NDP plan. duced his GST cut plan to mMOSt.=: a focal point to last week’s debt, he said the effort has of using the money gener-. deflect criticism “from his first major election promise, | another Parliamentary vote on same-sex marriage with a view to overturning. its controversial legislation if a ' .motion to do so is passed. ~ « “Tm meeting with peo- - ple who say that while they ‘don’t agree [with same- sex marriage], they want ‘to leave it behind,” Cullen continued. that says, : “Get Stuffed.”: Mr. Mike's Gift Cards is the git that ges back. Just fi up with any dollar amount, give it to someone. One dollar: from every ten spent goes families in need. 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