B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix faced some of his most ardent critics Tuesday, delivering his first speech to the business crowd at the Vancouver Board of Trade even as one business group released a survey that found the majority of its members fear a New Democrat government.
Dix defended his stance on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and reiterated his plan to increase corporate taxes, reinstate a minimum tax on banks and tackle inequality.
But the priority of a government under his mantle, Dix said, would be education and skills training.
"It's not easy to say that we're going to raise taxes, but I would make one point. Since we showed leadership on that question, the minister of finance has said he's going to raise corporate taxes by one point, from 10 to 11 per cent," Dix told a soldout crowd of about 450 people.
"This is a reality of the times." Dix said he would not implement a capital tax, but would return corporate taxation to the levels they were in 2008, before the most recent cuts under the Liberal government.
In a room where the smiling face of former premier Gordon Campbell was still in rotation across the giant screens at the front of the room until just before Dix's speech began, there was an awkward moment at the end of his address when those in attendance had to decide whether to join in a standing ovation that began with the union leaders who sponsored the event - another first for the board of trade.
More than half decided they would not.
Dix tried to make light of the divide, but winning business votes will be a hurdle for the NDP in the election scheduled for May 14, 2013.
The Coalition of B.C. Business released a survey of more than 600 small businesses that found 68 per cent believed a New Democrat government would increase challenges and barriers to doing business.
Mark von Schellwitz, chairman of the coalition, said threequarters of the businesses surveyed are concerned about their ability to hire and invest if the NDP wins the election.
