An assault on small business.
That’s how Cariboo North Liberal MLA Coralee Oakes views the provincial budget tabled yesterday by the NDP…
“They’re replacing the MSP premiums with a new two billion dollar payroll tax that will absolutely hammer small business and at the same time small businesses are going to have to pay a payroll tax when they’re also paying MSP as it’s being phased out.”
Oakes says the budget does very little for our region…
“250 has definitely been left out in the cold. For all the discussion in the throne speech about making sure that rural BC would be looked after, page after page we’ve seen reductions in important programs for rural British Columbia being shifted into the Lower Mainland. It’s so discouraging for us that have worked incredibly hard to make sure that programs and funding and services are kept at a fair and equitable rate.”
Oakes says the Cariboo Connector wasn’t even mentioned.
She did say, however, that the increase in support for senior care is a positive…
“That is definitely good news, it’s also good news to see the increased support for early child care spots.”
Oakes says they are still trying to figure out how both of those are going to be rolled out.
Echoing similar concerns on the 2018 budget, Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett said there is nothing for small business, and that the government going to spend and tax.