On January 11, 1994 the B. C. Conservative
Party held a ALL PARTY press conference at the Hotel Georgia in Vancouver
to promote the concept of
TAXCAP - A CONSTITUTIONAL LIMIT
TO TAXES, SPENDING AND BORROWING.
As the Globe & Mail reported on January
11, 1994.....
Vancouver -- Worried about soaring debt, a coalition of
British Columbians plans to launch a grassroots revolt today designed to
force the NDP government to put a cap on taxes.........
.........Norm Ruff, a political scientist at the University
of Victoria, says the arrival on the political scene of a right-wing citizens'
coalition pushing tax caps onto the agenda helps paint Mr. Harcourt into
an ideological corner....
In a province where the NDP are branded as runaway spenders,
a tax-cap debate will force Mr. Harcourt to explain whether or not he favours
legislated spending limits.......
Mr. Harcourt isn't the only political leader who finds
himself in an awkward position on the issue.
Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell, who is at the top of the
polls and characterizes himself as more free-enterprise than Mr. Harcourt,
expressed doubts about the taxcap proposal because its supporteres aren't
setting out where government spending should be cut.
"I think it's tough to sign it (the initiative),
he said. "We don't know what the consequences are."
HERE IS SOME EDITORIAL CONTENTS THAT FOLLOWED
THAT PRESS CONFERENCE
THE PROVINCE
Editorial
January 12, 1994
BURDEN OF PROOF
Peter Macdonald admits that before his tax-cap plan goes much further,
the public has to be educated............
Macdonald has struck
a nerve with his plan for a tax cap.
THE GLOBE & MAIL Editorial
January 12, 1994
The taxes they choose.
......that people should be asked directly the
level of taxes they are willing to support, and that total spending should
be adjusted to meet this figure, not the other way around -- is a sound
one.
THE FINANCIAL POST
Editorial
January 13, 1994
Reining in tax increases
.......The best economic ideas are the simplest, like Macdonald's.
They cut through complicated theory to a solution that works.
The tax limit proposal must be adopted - at the federal, provincial and
municipal levels.
THE VANCOUVER SUN Barbara Yaffe
November 20, 1993
Hats off to those
who would put cap on provincial tax pig-out potential
.......TaxCap or a variation
of it -- any mechanism to quell the varacious political appetite for spending
-- is an idea for right now. It forces honest and accountability from politicians
and gives taxpayers a degree of relief from a system that incrementally
has left them with little more than pocket lint and empty wallets.
THE CHILLIWACK TIMES
Editorial March 29, 1996
PUBLIC MUST DEMAND TAX CAP
....Its plain to see that the tax cap long promoted
by B. C. Conservative leader............. is worth merrit.......
THE ABBOTSFORD NEWS
Editorial January 12, 1994
What about limits on taxation?
....By exposing themselves to.......and taxation
limits, only then will politicians gain any credibility with those who
pay.
NORTH SHORE NEWS
Noel Wright
"HITHER AND YON" July 2, 1993
Nobody really serious about debt reduction
... If we're serious about todays crushing tax
burden..... TAXCAP.... makes complete sense.....
THE PEACE ARCH NEWS
Editorial January 15, 1994
Tax Limit Coalition has the right idea.
Peter Macdonald is giving the province a little
TLC........
The Maple Ridge News Editorial
January 30, 1994
Tax cap: Enforcing honesty makes initiative
attractive
...We like Peter Macdonald's proposal to put a
taxcap on the B. C. Government......
Disclaimer: EqualParenting-BC.Ca encourages exercising democratic
rights such as the freedom of expression, but does not by association or
reference to other materials condone or sanction violence or hatred.
