NDP leadership candidate Adrian Dix calls for B.C. corporate tax cuts to be cancelled

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      Adrian Dix today (February 2) proposed increasing corporate income tax rates and directing the revenue toward addressing such issues as climate change, public transit, and inequality.

      Dix, a B.C. New Democrat leadership contender, has called on the provincial government to reverse tax cuts implemented on July 1, 2008, January 1, 2010, and January 1, 2011.

      “I’m saying today we should cancel those tax cuts in the last three years and refocus that money on other priorities,” Dix told the Straight by phone.

      He says his plan would add $268 million to B.C. government coffers for 2011/2012 and $338 million for the following year.

      “We will still have tax rates that are very similar to the national average,” said Dix, the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway.

      The additional tax revenue could also be used to “increase tax fairness and boost our long term economic prospects”, he says in a news release.

      Asked by the Straight what can be done to implement the proposal, Dix said: “I’m making the case, but I’m hoping that we’ll have a new government that’s committed to reducing child poverty, that’s committed to building transit and using carbon tax revenues to actually build transit in our community.”

      “I’m hoping there’ll be a new NDP government and I intend to lead it,” he added.

      Dix criticized the B.C. Liberal government’s approach to reducing corporate taxes, claiming the strategy has failed to yield enough economic benefit.

      He also said the corporate tax cuts in January 2010 and January 2011 coincided with increases to MSP premiums and long-term care fees.

      “So you have money going directly from a family of four earning $35,000 and from a vulnerable senior to some of the largest corporations in the province,” he said. “That’s just not fair.”

      Comments

      13 Comments

      Akat

      Feb 2, 2011 at 6:19pm

      You have to give Mr. Dix credit for being up front about how he'd pay for programs he believes in. No other candidate for either the Liberal or NDP leadership has told us how they'd start to pay for their promises.

      And this proposal makes the most sense, as reducing taxes for corporations hasn't produced any measurable economic benefit, won't have an impact on overall investment decisions, and really only adds to the deficit.

      NDPer

      Feb 2, 2011 at 11:24pm

      That's it.... I am supporting DIx!

      Corporate tax cuts are one of the least efficient ways to create jobs and do the wealthy really need more tax breaks?

      don't disagree

      Feb 3, 2011 at 2:36am

      but I think we need a more thorough review including resource rent/royalties. Like Dix, but am still leaning Horgan

      optimistic about the future

      Feb 3, 2011 at 7:04am

      I like the fact that taxation is now being openly discussed. We need to stop apologizing and call down the hecklers that have shut most of us up over the last decade.

      I like Dix and his chutzpa and I think he will make a good Leader if he wins, however I think we need less of a target as our Leader and Premier and the guy with the clean hands is Horgan. Horgan as the Leader with Dix and Farnworth as the heavy hitters on his flanks. It is time to think strategically and I see Horgan winning. He has the fewest vulnerabilities.

      nachum

      Feb 3, 2011 at 9:19am

      And while you are taking back the Corporate tax giveaways, why don't you take back the Bank's tax, that was killed by the <a href="http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2009/09/14/caroletaylorTD/"> BC Liberal's Carole Taylor</a>, for a place on the Toronto Dominions Board of Directors for as much as $350,000 per year. Just to add insult to injury <a href="http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/01/31/BankJob/">BC's banking jobs have declined</a> since the Banks got their tax break.

      Geez, maybe I should become a BC Liberal, then I won't have to work for an honest living anymore!

      Bruno15

      Feb 3, 2011 at 10:06am

      I would agree that some credit is due Mr. Dix for delivering bad news as well as good news, unlike some of his contemporaries. I say only some credit as the appeal of corporate punishment is in itself a positive among much of Mr. Dix's constituency. It is this hostility towards corporations, who are the employers in our economy, that is the dicotomy of the hard-core of the NDP. We want to be part of job creation, but we do not want to be seen as enabling corporations in any manner. Indeed a difficult balancing act -- one that largely cost Carole James her job.

      welldoneson

      Feb 3, 2011 at 3:33pm

      It would appear that the NDP do NOT want to win the next election in BC.

      First, Adrian Dix emerges as the early favorite in the leadership race.

      (Oh dear.)

      Then, Dix proudly announces that he has the support of Joy McPhail.

      (Yeah, that'll get him just a BUSHEL of votes.)

      Then, one of their leadership hopefuls announces that transit use should be "free", with increased taxes on "the rich" to pay for it.

      (I should note that to the NDP, "rich" means "you have a steady job".)

      If these three headlines aren't enough to make you realize the NDP are absolutely full of steaming fresh shiite, I don't know what to say to you.
      Vote for whomever you want, but if you can't justify your vote with a rational explanation, in other words without raising points that don't make sense or aren't relevant, you're simply a warm body filling out a ballot.

      future activist

      Feb 3, 2011 at 8:25pm

      Dix is a good second choice. John Horgan has clear integrity. Dix to be fair may have slipped in this department however he did stand up and take responsibility. I think his actions since have been admirable. I just don't want to hear the media bash him continueally until I want to yell stop! Horgan isn't a natural target the same way Dix is.Baggage is baggage.

      Horgan for BC NDP Leader and Horgan for Premier of British Columbia!

      LittleMax

      Feb 3, 2011 at 9:09pm

      welldoneson:
      No worries. The delusional crap posted by the NDP trolls above you here is just free entertainment. They drink the kool-aid without ever worrying about having a realistic or rational thought; I have no idea what colour the sky is in their world, but I envy their ignorance. We should all be so lucky. I pray that Dix wins their leadership; he makes Gordo look like a poster-boy for ethics, and he'll lead all their sheep straight off a cliff. Just sit back and enjoy the antics.

      RonS

      Feb 4, 2011 at 7:04am

      Dix makes Gordo (long nose) SCampbell look like a poster boy for ethics? Laughable at the least! SCampbell was a worm as Mayor and continued his slimy ways as soon as elected Preem. Look up the slimey bastards past, the same players he favoured as mayor were and are the same scumballs he is favouring as Leader of the LIbERalS.

      Nothing Dix has done could ever compare to SCampbells corruption as mayor or Preem! What a joke LittleMax!