The big news on Day 3 was the announcement from the NDP that if elected, they would drop the small business tax rate to 9%. They also announced that they would do a deal with First Nations to give them a portion of resource revenues.
The SaskParty countered by offering a tax credit for first time homebuyers and resoundingly rejecting a special deal for anyone on resource royalties.
With respect to the NDP's tax cut proposal, I really have no problems with it. As a small business owner, I would benefit from it - assuming they actually do what they say they would do. From that perspective, I would welcome it. In fact, I would encourage Mr. Wall to make it happen if he wins the election anyways.
With respect to the First Nations Resource deal, I would agree with the Sask Party position - resource royalties are for the benefit of ALL of the residents of the province, regardless of the colour of your skin or how your ancestors got to Saskatchewan. First Nations benefit in a variety of ways from the royalties flowing into the provincial coffers, not the least of which is through the building of roads and infrastructure, jobs in the sectors devoted to extracting the resources, and extra resources for schooling and social work. Why should they take a larger piece of the pie just because of their ancestry?
The SaskParty's proposal just piggy backs on the federal credit introduced 2 years ago to encourage home ownership. I don't necessarily agree that the government has a role in encouraging one form of shelter over another, but this proposal will not be costly, and so it continues their week of making it look like they aren't trying to compete with the NDP on a vote buy.
All in all, the big winners of the day seem to be taxpayers.
There are no real losers other than the people left paying for the NDP's proposals.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What? No comments? Well, better late than never. Home buying is an investment in a stable society, but resource sharing with Native Indians is what? Not only is the NDP pandering for votes but they are also encouraging the Natives to believe that because their ancestors foraged for food in a territory they are entitled to unearned proceeds from today's high tech extraction of formerly unused resources in that territory. The Natives deserve and need a generous program of economic assimilation after which they should be free to live their lives without HELP from the likes of the NDP.
ReplyDeleteIt's government encouraging home ownership through Fannie and Freddie and through other measures that got the world into the mess it's in. As it sits, a tax credit seem innocuous, but at the end of the day, it's still helping people who might not be able to afford a house to get into home ownership. From that perspective I disagree with the credit, although I agree that viewed properly, a home is the largest investment most make.
ReplyDelete