a A8& - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 16, 1994 NDP doubtful of GST deal Blended sales tax must be fair THE PROVINCE will.not accept a deal to blend the provincial and federals sales taxcs if it means in- creases costs for consumers, said finance minister Elizabeth Cull while in Terrace last Thursday. The latest proposal from the federal government, Cull said, is to combine the provincial sales tax (PST) and ihe goods and ser- vices tax (GST) into a 12 per cent “aX, But this new tax would follow the guidelines of the GST, which is much broader than the PST, when deciding what is taxable. Even though ithe blended tax would be two per cent lower than the individual seven per cent GST and PST, Cull said the broad laxability of the new tax would cost the ' average family $400 more per year. “Weve said that this is a non- slarter because we're not going to support something that forces people to pay morc,’’ she said. “More of it would be paid by consumers than by businesses and that would be wrong.’” She said Ontario and Manitoba are currently working on a com- promise between the provinces and the federal government for a more fair combined tax. kk kkk In other financia] matters, Cull said won't be setting aside moncy in the new budget for land claims payments because there’s little chance of finalizing any scttle- ments. “We're a long ways away from closing any deals,’’ she said. ‘T’s so unlikely that it will be done in the near future that con- tingency plans haven’t been made.’” Cull said it is difficult to estimate how much might have to budgeted for land claims because B.C.’s share could mostly be Jani. kt kkk B.C, leads Canada in employ- ment, she said, with 71,000 new jobs created so far this year, most of which are part-time. “We've had ‘a very significant growth in part-time jobs, different from last year when many new jobs were full-time,’ Cull said. “But because we have a growing economy we can expect to see those part-time positions roll over into full-time.” FINANCE MINISTER Elizabeth Cull was in town last week at the Terrace Inn for a public meeting to hear how people would tike to see money spent in the upcoming budget. Joining her at the . hear table was Skeena MLA Helmut Giesbrecht, acting as the meeting moderater, and fiscal analysis manager Doug Foster. Cull hears local concerns ABOUT 50 local people took the opportunity to voice their opinions about the upcoming provincial budget directly to the finance minister, Terrace health care society chair Lael McKeown told Cull that user fees for medical service and a review of what drugs require a doctor’s prescription could help reduce spending. “We can’t continue to provide free service to everyone at the cost of providing poor service to everyone,’ said McKeown, among the first to speak to Cull. “If we have a fee, it might make people think twice about going to the doctor for a sniffle - we can’t afford to have people die while on a wait list while others abuse the system,’’ She also suggested that allowing more drugs to be sold over the counter would lessen the strain on health care spending, “Many drugs sold over the counter in other provinces and in the United States require a physician’s prescription in B.C.,’’ McKeown said. Speaking on behalf of the Tsimshian Tribal Council, Gerald Wesley told Cull they are prepared to see tax increases only as a last resort to deal with the provincial deficit. *‘We would look at some tax adjustments if all else fails but our main concerns rest in looking at development for our people,” said Wesley, “We'd like to see continued efforts in job creation for everyone.”’ He said that First Nations had looked forward to the promised new re- lations between their people and the government but are disappointed in the amount of effort B.C, has shown. ‘We haven't seen the changes we'd like to see and were told would occur in provincial relations with aboriginal peoples,’? he said, Wesley also said the province could help all northem residents by reducing the hold multi-national companies have on forest industrics, Speeding Costs Almost 8,000 Injuries A Year. Please, Slow Down. CARPE? 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