NDP won't embrace Harper's agenda
Vancouver Sun
February 27, 2008
Editorial By: Jack Layton

Hard-working British Columbians want value for the taxes they send to Ottawa.

They want to know that the services they count on from their federal government will be there for them and their families.

But after three federal budgets, the Harper Conservatives have failed to invest in the priorities of working families.

Based on Tuesday's budget, for every dollar the federal government has allocated in new spending, six dollars will go to corporate subsidies and tax giveaways -- a six-to-one ratio in favour of the big banks and the big polluters.

In fact, the Harper agenda is steadily placing a greater burden of paying for government services onto individual taxpayers, while corporate Canada is being asked to shoulder less and less despite record profits.

By the time the 2010 Olympic Games arrive, income for the federal government from personal income taxes will increase by 12 per cent, while income from corporate taxes will decrease by 14 per cent -- not because corporate profits are forecast to decline, but because corporate tax rates have been cut so much.

That means each of us has to make up for costs -- either in higher fees or taxes or reduced services. This at a time when investment in people and their communities has never been more important.

…. The budget neglected to invest in housing, the pine beetle crisis, cleaning up our lakes and rivers, financing instruments for combating climate change, or creating much-needed child care spaces.