‘We can't continue to tax people to death'

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

People who already have trouble paying their heating bill could go cold this winter if the province goes ahead with its new tax plan, said Peter Clark. The owner of Clark Oil in Beardsley gave a troubling presentation to the select committee on tax review last Thursday, July 10, in Woodstock.

"I'm speaking for the thousands of customers I deal with on a yearly basis," Clark told the group of legislators seated before him inside the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #11.

Clark said he gets calls nearly every day from people saying, sometimes on the verge of tears, they can't afford to pay for oil.

Many customers are missing payments, he said, because of the 46-per-cent increase in the cost of oil over the last six months.

"My list of receivables could choke a horse," exclaimed Clark.

He said the discussion paper's proposal to raise consumption taxes – a two-per-cent hike in HST coupled with a carbon tax – would be a "double-whammy" on consumers' wallets.

Those who would get hit hardest, said Clark, are people with fixed incomes, like seniors and the working poor.

He expressed concern these groups will have a difficult time paying for heat next winter.

"We can't continue to tax people to death."

The discussion paper makes up for the spike in consumption taxes by lowering personal income tax rates.

It claims this will "allow New Brunswick taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money."

According to CUPE, that statement is true only for the rich.

Paul Moist is the national president of CUPE. He also gave a presentation to the select committee last week in Woodstock.

Moist said his organization crunched some numbers and determined the tax proposals would only benefit the richest people in the province. Using figures from Statistics Canada and the tax changes proposed in the discussion paper, CUPE found that the highest income group in the province – earning $150,000 per year – would gain more than $5,000 a year.

In contrast, CUPE determined the lowest income group in the province would see an average loss of $565 per year.

The majority of middle-income earners, said Moist, would experience similar losses.

"The richest people in New Brunswick will be better off, moderately, by these tax proposals," Moist told the committee, "funded by – we argue – the lowest earning New Brunswickers."

He blasted the committee for trying to mislead people into believing the tax proposals would save them money.

"The majority of New Brunswick households will actually pay more in taxes and user fees as a direct result of the total tax package," said Moist.

He ended his presentation with a couple more figures to reinforce the claim that the rich would gain off the backs of the poor.

The top income group in the province, said Moist, would be collectively better off by $70-million a year.

The two bottom income groups, he continued, would be worse off to the tune of $72-million a year.

"That's where we make the argument that the breaks being given to the highest income earners in the province come from the pockets of the lowest income earners," said Moist.