Editor:
Re: New tax taking $23 from average homeowner, Paton says, Feb. 2
There can only be two conclusions drawn from Delta South MLA Ian Paton’s comments in a story regarding the employer health tax (EHT). Either Paton is extremely inept when it comes to mathematics or he is deliberately trying to mislead his constituents by completely misrepresenting the situation.
We hope it’s the first scenario because if it’s the second, it calls into question who he is standing up for because it sure is not the average families in Delta South that he claims to be for.
The EHT is a replacement for the Medical Service Plan (MSP) premium, the latter which will be fully eliminated in 2020. Instead of paying directly for the MSP, which many individuals and families have done in the past, homeowners will see a miniscule fraction of what they previously paid downloaded onto their property tax bill.
Where Paton does a disservice to his constituents is that he seems to completely gloss over the fact the EHT is a replacement for the MSP. He ignores the fact the elimination of the MSP means individuals stand to save up to $900 annually, while families stand to save up to $1,800 annually. Even if all those individuals or families owned a home, which clearly not everybody is fortunate enough to do, the net savings would still far and away dwarf the minor increase to the property tax attributed to the EHT.
Oddly enough, the BC Liberals didn’t see any issue with raising MSP premiums over the years during their time in government seeing it balloon from $36 per month for an individual when they took power in 2001 up to a high point of $75 per month, something which affected every British Columbian regardless of whether they were a homeowner or not.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised at Paton’s lack of consideration beyond just the surface issue. It seems to be emblematic of the approach that the BC Liberals had, like when they took money out of ICBC or when they left massive deferral accounts at BC Hydro.
Their failure to look at the big picture back has forced British Columbians to pay for their mistakes today. Thankfully no matter how much Paton or his colleagues balk at the EHT, their shortsightedness here won’t end up costing British Columbians later down the road.
But he should still be made to answer for his comments which do a disservice to the people he claims to represent.
Lori Mayhew
