The B.C. New Democratic Party recently mailed me a "pre-election survey." I was asked if I supported NDP positions on reduced medical premiums, improved social housing, more stringent environmental regulations and more funding for health care and education.
All of these are high cost items which could not be implemented without substantial tax increases. And yet nowhere in the survey does the word "tax" appear. Does the NDP not have a policy on taxation?
In recent decades, neo-conservatives have been successful in convincing us that taxes are inherently evil. Politicians regularly call for tax reductions, but these days a candidate who calls for a tax increase is treading on thin ice.
So I was pleased to hear NDP leader Adrian Dix announce at a meeting of the Vancouver Board of Trade that he plans to increase business taxes.
Hopefully, he will go on to raise the issue of a fair increase in general income tax to provide adequate funding for health care, education and other valued public services.
It's time to go public with the debate about the relative merits of higher taxes.
Erik Taynen
Courtenay
