The B.C. government has been advertising on Global TV at a rate that could constitute brainwashing.
They periodically change the topic, but they have bragged about their balanced budget a lot. The question is: is the budget balanced because of good management, or by over taxation on everything from vehicle insurance to electricity rates?
In this province, we pay a tax to the government in one form or another including income, sales, carbon, property transfer, alcohol, tobacco, health-care premiums, electrical utility rates (B.C. Hydro), vehicle insurance (ICBC), and I may have missed some. The profits from B.C. Hydro and from ICBC go into the government coffers.
The Vancouver Sun published an article on Jan. 23 titled, B.C.’s credit rating at risk as Hydro’s debt grows. In this article they state, “hydro been forced to borrow $3.8 billion since 1992 to pay the government a mandatory annual dividend that it was unable to afford,” and also “the government has promised to start weaning itself off the dividend in 2018.” Note that this is promised for after the election this year. A forced dividend is not profit; it is a tax. I’ve already written about the high cost of electricity in this hydro-rich province compared to the others.
I moved to this province from Alberta, which has private insurance. For my car and truck insurance I gave up the collision coverage, increased the deductible on comprehensive from $100 to $500, and the premium was still higher here (and I had the eight-year claim-free record requested). ICBC is another crown corporation supporting this government.
This province has abundant natural gas and easy access to overseas customers, extensive mining and forestry, a large population base to support the infrastructure, a diversified economy into things like the tech industry and movies, a thriving wine industry and a large tourism industry. With all of this to support a tax base, why are the citizens taxed to death? I wonder who is paying all the millions of dollars for the advertising mentioned in the first sentence.
When I first moved here I got so sick of hearing that B.C. means “bring cash.” The government that will reduce the sales tax to five per cent and privatize the utilities and insurance industry is the government for me.
Jerrilynn DeCock, Penticton
