Deficit to hel TERRACE ~~ The provincial economy couldn’t have handled a massive cut in government ex-: pendilures to balance the budget it brought in last -weck, says Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Gies- brecht. Here’s a list of what will cost more as a result of the new provincial budget. * The provincial sales tax has increased by one point to seven percent. 2° | * And the tax is being broadened, as of Oct. 1 to in- clude service items. This brings the. tax closer to the fed- eral government’s Goods and Services Tax. * Liquor priecs went up an average 2.5 to 3 per cent and there’s an additional. $1 tax on a carton of cigarettes. © The tax on gasoline and -diesel fuel goes up one cent a litre Sept. 1. Exempted is marine fuel, marked gas and ‘marked diesel. ’ * Those making more than $60,000 a year can look for- ward to a -provincial surtax. The rate increases ihe more a person makes. - * Sales taxes on cars sold for more than $30,000 increase, The top level, ifa vehicle costs more than $32, 000, is 10 per cent, Excluded are vans and - trucks larger than three-quarter ton... “* The general corporate in- come tax rate. is going up .5 per cent to 16,5 per cent as;of 5 cing iestaall | busipess rate stays al 10 per cent. fr meets arrmwainty ‘* - Medical Service ‘Plan premiums are going up three per cent as of Oct. 1. -* Overall, the new taxes are eslimnaied to bring in an addi- tional $800 million on a budget of $18. 995 billion. pes “IE you took $1.5 billion out of the budget now, the net economic® impacts would be pretty drastic, There’d be massive job’ losses. and that wouldn’t help the econo- my,’ he said, ~ Thal eslimated shortfall between what. ihe government will take in’ this year and what it will pay out. $1.5 billion is. the Gicsbrecht noted that the deficit is less than if was two years ago and less than the $2 billion for the year just ending. “I's like a train. You can’t stop it ona dime. It would take a brick wall instead. This. is slowing: it . down,” he said of (he-deficil, “Yes, we're still spending more - than we take in, bul T should note that’s: happened in -10 of the last : “12years,”” the MLA ‘continued. The provincial debt will stand =. at $26.4 billion once borrowing Io * cover shortfalls - ‘and © other ex. penditures -is. done. for: the “year: ahead. : ‘That's up ‘from the $20 bition it was lwo years ago. : : - Giesbrecht also defended thet in- crease in income tax for people . making more than $60,000: a year. “T think we've got lo think in terms of the resi of the country and the rest of the world, ”” said Giesbrecht, “Any of the baby boomers that are. ‘now: scttled in homes -and have their morlgages~ paid off don’t-ave too many problems,’’ he said if the. prospects of having to pay more income taxi . Giesbrecht added” that. the ‘in- come: tax increases will _ affect “only cight per cent of taxpayers. “He, noted that some of the. tax increases: (he ‘ane cent a litre’ increase-‘in- gasoline and diesel this fall: — will go to highway construction. “The Financing Authority is a.specific TERRACE. —~ Northwest resi- denls ‘can expect a new look to highway construction ‘projects, construction of public buildings and to. _ Spending by provincial crown ‘borporations as a' result of last week’s provincial budget. ‘The-government is crealing BC21,.a, crown. corporation to be financed by: new. taxes and long term: borrowing. - Trl be building highways and public buildings dargeted al creat- ing jobs-in the regions and belp- ; ng develop those regions, BC: transportation “Finaring Authority.) '° Its revenue will come from the ofie cent a litre-increase in gaso- line and:disel .fuel sales effective - Sept; ;1,-a: new. $1.50 per day tax on.short.term rental vehicles, ‘But BC21 will also be author- ized to borrow money to be paid back over a long period of time. ‘And’ {t's getting money ‘that would: otherwise have gone to the iighways ininistry. to build high- ways.” . _ Although BC21 thas been criti- cized has-a-way-of creating debt without: ayn it appear on the Clea 1 eBay SKATES AREN'T the only items ‘beng sharpened in the province nowadays. The provincial government honed its tax take by increasing the provincial salas tax by one per cent and expand- ing It to cover items such as skate sharpening. That's Troy Stenquist of All Seasons putting just the right edge on. nance minister Glen Clark says its money the government would be spending anyway on construc- tion projects, Those construction projects in- clude what the province is ‘calling an acceleration of health care, ed- ucalion and justice facilities. The province has also created a $100 million construction budget for public sector projects giving economic return to regions. in which they are built. As well, projects will encourage the use of goods and services sup- plied by B.C.-based businesses, Speaking after the provincial budget was released, finance min- ister Glen Clark said there will be opportunities for those now on social assistance to gain work skills through BC21 projects. “The transportation finance authority, from gas taxes, will use the money for roads in B.C, That’s very good news,’’ said Clark. Altogether, the new crown cor- poration will spend $1.42 billion, which will be borrowed, in- the coming year on new public sector buildings, Expenditures of other crown . Corporations .lo be spent in. the regions will total $900 million. Not a lot is known yel about where and when a lot of. the Spending will be done. - B.C, Transportation : The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 7, 1993 - Page AS p economy fund for a specific Purpose,” said Giesbrecht.. Gicsbrecht said one piece of geod news jn (he budget is the climinalion of Medical “Services Plan © premium “payments — for 430,000 people: . And he said the new: BC21 crown ‘corporalion’ will provide ‘needed jobs’ to help the. province out of a recession. “We're, looking - at something “here to help get things back to normal, 7" said the MLA. Even though the new corpora- tion will borrow. money and that will . create. debi, Giesbrecht likened. it to buying @ house and then making morigage payments, ; decrease, | $762.2 million. That’s because What’s down Here’s a list of some lax breaks and spending reductions from last week’s provincial budget. * There’s a sales tax credit to a maximum of $50 per year for people caring less than $30,000. The provincial. government says this will morte than offset the increase in the sales tax-for a family of four with an in- come of $30,000. * Those caring less than $30,000 a year are exempt from the three per cent in- crease in Medical Services Plan premiums, * And the provincial govern- ment says adjusiments in premium assistance _— will eliminate them for 430,000 people, The exemption level on the corporate capital lax inctcases to $1.25 million from $1 mil- lion. * The basic homeowners’ grant goes up $20 to $470. For senior citizens, it’s an increase of $25. * The environment ministry will have approximatcly $7 million less to spend this year than last. That’s a 3.1 per cent Ades dais vied wee * The. highways, Anistry, is, ‘aking a 10.4 percent cut to construction projects are being shifted over to the new BC21 crown corporation, * The overall deficit for this year is calculated al $1.5 bil- lion, a decrease over last year’s $2 billion estimate. ew corporation to create work News related to this is expected to be released as the spring wears on. The road building plan has been backed by provincial road con- tractors, Earlier, the contractors’ provin- cial. association said .cuts in provincial. spending, in the past few years. had hurt construction and cnginecring companies and jobs in the province. Debt worries accountants, miners TERRACE Miners and chartered = accountants - aren’t happy with last weck’s provincial budget, — The Mining Association of B.C, says tax increases will hurt an al- ready suffering minerals industry while the Institute of Chartered Accountants of B.C. says ex- - penditures will continue to out- strip revenues. “We are positive: that’ the fore- casted deficit is being reduced,” — said mining association president Gary Livingstone. - “Qur concem is. that govern- ment spending continues to in-. crease and deficit reduction is only a result of higher taxes. These higher taxes further deteriorate our competitive posi- lion and will make it more dif- ficult to. keep, Iet alone attract in- vestment in British Columbia,”’ he said. Livingstone did credit the pro- - vince for climinating notice of work fees and: exempting from property lax mining access roads on Crown lands. The ministry estimates the latter - will save mining companies be- tween $500,000 and $1 million a year. “Government, whether provin- cial, federal or municipal, cannot continue to raise taxes to spend money they don’t have,” said Livingstone. Meanwhile, .° Institute of Chartered Accounts of B.C, presi- dent Don Young said the budget: contains no vision of revenue and expenditure plans beyond the Tew. fiscal year. While - the ‘government appears 10 be lackling the deficlt, Young said it was troubling. to see that the total direct and guaranteed debt of the province has increased by 32 per cent of the last two years, He said the total debt, as of March 31 next year, is forecast at - $26.4 billion. “Expenditure reductions are necded in. many areas if we are going..to balance our budget soon,’* said Young, ‘‘The people . of British Columbia must’ ask government for less if we are to live within our means.’” Young added that the budget is silent on specific initiatives to ensure the government’ reduces waste and duplication and opera- tes more effectively. . Tk TOTHE TERRACE STANDARD That word not needed Dear Sir: I am wriling this regarding the front page story aboul MP Jim Fullon’s retirement an- houncement in your March 24 edition. Why did you find it neces- sary lo include an expletive in the article? Did you forget for a moment that you are writing for a small community news- paper and not Playboy maga- zine? I have heard Prince Rupert mayor Peter Lester use of- fensive language before but I believe inclusion of the epithet was cnlircly unnecessary to the conlent of the article and high- ly inappropriate, You: should have exercised your editorial discretion and omitied the entire word in question, The meaning was painfully obvious and coyly deleting three letters did not make it any Jess of- fensive, Please remember that as you are now Terrace’s only com- munity newspaper, you are an important source of local news for a broad segment of the populace, including children. [ have encouraged my own seven year-old son to read “The Start’’ section whenever it seemed .appropriate and relevant to him. Please remember’ your re- sponsibility to your readership and exercise some integrily in the presentation of the news. En future, please resist the tempta- tion to succumb to titillation. Lastly, f believe that no mat- (er what onc’s political inclina- tion, Jim Fulton is our current sitting Member of Parliament “Np eur be accorded more 8h ct, especially’ “ft view! dr gud vpcpeapdes bared “til mai years ‘of sérvice. Yours Truly, Kaelecn Bruce, Terrace, B.C. In her prayers Dear Sir: In regards to the letter in the March 24 paper, “Self govern- ment said a racist way”’. _Mr. Bill Homburg stated that we were forced to learn English by Catholic teachers. I would like to take this lime to thank you as Catholic teachers for leaching us English. As I see it we are now one more step closer in the fight for our land. You may also realize Mr. Homburg. that the Chinese, Viclnamese and other foreign- ers did not have their language and cultures laken away and they were nol forced to speak English. They were not forced into ’ Catholic schools. If they wanted to make life easier for themselves they needed to speak English, So, Mr. Bill Homburg, [ have ‘ lo say to you, ‘*You will be in my prayers,”” - Charlene Erickson, Terrace, B.C. More on Page A7 “the Start 7 ‘is for peible learning, how to read, mie Pool people Chris Kerman ‘Bluebacks Swim Club. and Audrey Erb. are swim- mers. They belong to the ‘Club. members held a swim marathon, They raise .. The - members | also | donated: to the food bank, The provincial sales tax is going up. It is one of several tax increases the government brought in last week. That means the provin- cial sales tax is now seven per cent, The tax increases are in the provincial. govern- ment’s new budget, - Gas will also cost more... The budget It is going up one cent a litre this fall. Diesel is going up by one cent, too. It also costs more to smoke and to drink al- cohol. But there is some good news in. the budget, People who make less than $30,000 a year will get a credit on the sales tax.