Premier Christy Clark's vision of paying off the B. C. Government long term debt with a special export tax on LNG has been set back by a decline in the world price of this commodity. As a northern resident I have always wondered why a new resource industry in development stages should be responsible for existing government debt.
With over half of the population living in the Lower Mainland a reasonable assumption is that the Lower Mainland should be responsible for half of long term debt. Given the Lower Mainland's current political backlash against the resource industry in General, I would like to suggest to Premier Clark and big city mayors like Derek Corrigan and Gregoire Robertson that a super royalty tax on large urban populations should be considered. A large proportion of the existing benefits of resource development currently end up in the Lower Mainland. If Mayor Robertson and Mayor Corrigan do not want their cities to be corridors for exporting resource wealth why should their cites benefit from future northern resource development?
Some suggestions for this super royalty green urban tax: 1)Register and force insurance on all Lower Mainland bicycle owners; 2)Footwear taxes; 3)Entertainment taxes on shows and sporting events; 4)Communication taxes on internet, cell phones and land lines.
A referendum question could be added to next year's transit tax question should the Lower Mainland divorce itself from the hinterland and look at green taxes to support our lavish lifestyle?
Wayne Martineau
Fraser Lake
