All governments taxing us into the poor house
It would seem that all levels of government are taking their best shot at taxing us into the poor house. We think our homeless population is growing. The best (worst) is yet to come.
Let’s look at regional and municipal governments. They both have one serious problem. They keep dipping their pens into matters they have no business getting involved in. Both regional and municipal governments have one responsibility and one only. To provide basic infrastructure needs for the local resident taxpayers. Not water management, not low cost housing and for goodness sake stop with the dreams and schemes around things we can’t afford. More parks! Not necessary. Parks are expensive to maintain. Oh, I forgot you’ll just hire more people at our expense. How could I forget. All these things do is increase expensive bureaucracy. City of Duncan (where I now live) stay with roads, sidewalks, along with water and sewer management. Everything else, leave it alone. CVRD solid waste and some water supply services along with sewer services. Not economic development, not housing and certainly not flood management. These are senior government responsibilities.
As for the province, I get so irritated by the expensive ads on TV talking about the 2019 budget. If they just did what they were responsible for and stopped wasting money on TV ads we would all be much better off. Their decision making processes continue to baffle me. The NDP sat in opposition for a long time and spoke clearly about what the Liberals did wrong. So fix it and don’t waste time and money studying it.
Now for the federal Liberals. What a joke. Carbon tax! Purely another tax to try and mitigate the billions of wasted dollars that has nothing to do with reducing our carbon footprint, not to mention the fact that Canada is one of the least polluting countries on earth.
When you add the Duncan city tax increase of three-plus per cent, to the CVRD’s six-plus per cent, plus the carbon tax which is now making our gas price rise and rise, we face an untenable tax situation which CANNOT be sustained.
Each level of government thinks the taxpayer is a deep pit of money which can be dipped into endlessly. Nothing could be further from the truth. Increasing taxes, on increased taxes on increased taxes cannot continue, the bubble will burst soon and the results will be catastrophic.
Please, elected officials; remember who you represent and where the money comes from, before any decision is made to spend OUR money.
One last thing. Forty million dollars for a new RCMP building. Are you kidding? Why not, as others have suggested, remodel the old Rona building. Makes perfect sense. Location and size, what could be better?
Jack Peake
Duncan
