British Columbia The seven per cent Goods and Servi- ces Tax (GST) which the Mulroney government is presently trying to ram through the House of Commons is the most unfair tax ever imposed by any Canadian government. Just consider _ these facts: This tax will take $21 billion out of our pockets — every year. This is the equi- valent of $800 for every man, woman and child in Canada. Just about all the necessities of life on which we spend our money will be taxed, either directly or indirectly. It will mean a big increase in the city’s budget and that translates into higher property taxes and rent increases. Because it’s a consumer tax it will hit low and middle income groups the hardest. Investments made by the wealthy won’t be taxed. Many small businesses will go under. It will cost them a bundle to collect the tax. If they raise their prices they stand to lose business. If they absorb the seven per cent themselves their profits will go down accordingly. They’re in a no-win situa- tion. It will also-increase unemployment. How could it be otherwise when dispos- able income of $21 billion is siphoned off to Ottawa? It will cause a big jump in inflation, anywhere from three per cent to six per cent. With the rate already at 5.5 per cent, increases of this magnitude will cut deeply into living standards. Remember, this tax is in addition to the 26 new increases imposed on us in the April 1989 budget which are taking $9.6 billion out of our pockets this year. The seven per cent Goods and Servi- ces Tax is supposed to replace the 13.5 per cent Manufacturer’s Sales Tax. This tax brings in $18 billion a year to the federal treasury. It will be repealed as soon as the GST goes into effect — Jan. 1, 1991. Theoretically the prices of Can- adian manufactured goods should then come down accordingly. But we all know this can’t happen. Manufacturers will keep prices where they are and simply pocket the difference. No wonder the Canadian Manufac- turers Association is such an enthusiastic supporter of the Goods and Services Tax! Finance Minister Michael Wilson says the Goods and Services Tax will also be used to reduce the deficit. That’s just plain political fertilizer. First of all, the deficit will not be reduced as long as the corporate sector fails to pay its fair share of taxes. Demonstration against the Goods and Service Tax, Feb. 19. Be part of anti-GST fightback on April 7-9 yg Second, the whole purpose of the GST (and the other federal taxes and cuts in social programs) is to enable the government to keep on giving handouts to the big corporations. And they are really getting them! Look at these fig- ures: ee As of 1988 big corporations owed the federal government $36.1 billion in deferred taxes, which they don’t ever expect to pay. In 1987 business received $8.9 billion in subsidies from the federal treasury. A group of corporations that made $27 billion jn profit in 1987 didn’t pay even one loony in taxes. Another group that made $17.7 billion paid only $700,000. Finance Minister Wilson increased military expenditures in his February 1990 budget from $11.2 billion to $12 billion. That’s where the money from the GST is going: to maintain wasteful and TRIBUNE PHOTO — DAN KEETON dangerous arms expenditures at a time when disarmament is what Canadians and all the people of the world want. If the Mulroney government wants to cut the deficit all it has to do is compel the rich to pay their fair share of taxes, cut military expenditures and reduce interest rates. Every one per cent reduction in interest rates, for example, would cut interest payments on the federal debt by $1.6 billion a year. Public opinion polls reveal that 80 per cent of Canadians oppose the GST. They also show that today the Mulroney government has the support of only 17 per cent of the voters. What we have in Canada today is a minority government in contempt of the people it is supposed to represent. On April 7-9 the Pro-Canada Net- work, an umbrella organization uniting millions of Canadians from all walks of life, will be conducting a nation-wide poll onthe GST. Be sure to register your vote. The GST can still be blocked if enough Canadians demonstrate their angry indignation. 2 Pacific Tribune, April 2, 1990 Housing crisis prompts community outcry Speakers from various community hous- ing groups called for an end to land specula- tion and city council’s attack on secondary suites at a forum on housing attended by several aldermen and MLAs in Vancouver March 25. And those attending the Committee of Progressive Electors special event at the Dunbar community centre agreed that the dominant Non Partisan Association on council is doing nothing to prevent mass evictions caused by demolition and prop- erty flipping. “Developers are running city hall,” said Ald. Libby Davies of COPE to applause. The opposition of the west side commun- ity housing groups revealed a “minor revolt” among traditional NPA supporters against the business backed civic alliance, . COPE spokesperson Bruce Yorke com- mented later. Harry Colbourne, a former Kerrisdale ° resident and founder of the Concerned Citi- _zens for Affordable Housing, called for “commitment by a government that cares.” Betty Tangye, another founder of the ‘west side citizens organization, charged that council was “looking after the interests of the speculators and the big developers.” The Kerrisdale area has become the focus of Vancouver’s housing crisis in the last year because many long-time residents have been evicted from inexpensive suites as apartment buildings have gone under the wreckers’ ball and have been replaced by high-priced condominiums. But the problem is moving from the west "side eastward, Tangye noted. Kitsilano Citizens Committee spokesper- _son Mel Lehan said council should scrap its secondary suite review program which requires costly improvements of home- owners to upgrade their facilities, a tradi- tional low-rent housing option for tens of thousands of Vancouver residents. And he called on the city to establish a temporary moratorium on demolition of affordable housing. Lehan called for zoning planning and a tax on speculation profits. “Don’t ignore the people who have built Vancouver,” Essop Mia said in sending a message to city council. John Shayler of the Tenants Rights Coa- lition cited low vacancy rates throughout the Lower Mainland and warned of “a housing crisis that is becoming entrenched.” Apartment buildings sit boarded up and empty while modern condos are built and not rented, he noted. Meanwhile, it’s “open season” on tenants _ who lack appropriate protective legislation, © Shayler said. Noting that elections in the city and the province are both pending, he declared: — “We need to say to provincial politicians: “We will change you if you won’t change. People in the audience told of houses: demolished in their neighbourhoods and astronomical rent hikes. Resident Tom Graham also cited high property taxes, say- ing that his neighbours face “intolerable pressures” to relocate. ' New. Democratic MLA Tom: Perry: (Point Grey) said the province must control! “greed and growth for its own sake.” Vancouver East NDP. MLA Emery. Barnes called for a “‘citizens revolt” against the greed that fuels the housing crisis. Vancouver COPE Ald. Bruce Eriksen © said 113 secondary suites have been lost in the city’s Joyce Station area because of suite reviews. “You don’t make (secondary) suites ille- gal unless you are a friend of developers,” added Ald. Harry Rankin © concérning council’s review program. COPE’s Davies said there is a “common agenda” being forged among citizens’ organizations across the city, citing com- mon concerns of residents in Kerrisdale, West Point Grey and the downtown east- side. She urged residents to fight the loss of housing by joining the local neighbourhood group. “It’s very clear that political action is required,” she said in calling for a “coalition for a progressive majority” on city council for the November elections. School needs cited Continued from page 1 beyond what the education ministry will provide in its block funding. Among the member groups are the Van- couver district parent representatives, the Vancouver school board, the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers Association, the Grandview Woodlands Area Council and the Vancouver Association for Child- ren With Learning Disabilities. Collectively they’ve distributed about 10,000 postcards to be sent to Education Minister Tony Brummet, and hope to circu- late about 50,000 more, including to areas outside Vancouver. The groups came together because, “We can’t have education quality determined by referenda,” Lehan said. He said it is important to stress that school districts seeking extra funding will have to resort to referendum each time. “This has to take place every year.” Currently school districts increase their yearly budget by resorting to the residential tax base. They used to have the power to tax industrial and commercial properties, but that was taken away by the Socred govern- ment in 1983, and it has reduced the corpo- Tate share of education financing ever since. The new system is not yet law, but boards are expected to file budgets based on the system for the 1990-91 school term. Some school boards are defying the government, filing “needs” budgets without planning for referendum — for example, the North Vancouver and Burnaby school districts. The deadline for budget proposals to Vic- | toria is March 31, and a final budget must be in place by the end of May. But boards which need extra funding must hold refer- endums by April 28. Steve Bareham of the B.C. School Trus- tees Association said the organization has no exact figures, but about one dozen boards have filed budgets with a referen- dum included, and another dozen are plan- ning to do so. Vancouver trustee Pauline Weinstein said the Vancouver school board had to go to referendum to maintain special needs programs. The board adopted a base budget March 28 of $294 million with an additional $11.2 million. Of this, $8.5 mil- lion will go to referendum and another $3 million will come from other funds. Weinstein, of the Committee of Progres- sive Electors, and trustee Anne Beer of the Civic New Democrats were defeated in their attempt to add another $1.3 million for spe- cial needs. : The money sought in referendum is slated for items such as special teaching assistants, the food program for poorer stu- dents, literacy and translation services, and other services, Weinstein said. “These are not extras,” she stressed. “These are real special needs that we have to attend to.” 90a