Bevington promotes raising tax deduction
Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Nov 10/00) - The NDP candidate for the Western Arctic says the Northern living allowance must be raised.
Wrapping up a campaign visit last week, Dennis Bevington said the high cost of living is "crippling" the Mackenzie Delta.
 Dennis Bevington |
He said the funding programs put forward by the federal Liberals are based on population and not cost of living, and this means "all our services as well are under pressure."
The candidate cited the cost of gasoline in Inuvik.
"With the price of gasoline here $1.03 a litre, in comparison with southern cities where the price of gasoline might be 63 cents to 70 cents a litre, the average person in this community is paying almost 60 per cent more GST," Bevington said.
"This situation has led to the taxing back of our Northern Residents Reduction," he said.
"We estimate that for us to have a comparable Northern Residents Reduction for income tax, we would need to see the present rate of $5,400 for a family increased to $8,500.
"So that's one of our planks in this election," Bevington said.
"We need to make Northern living more attractive to everyone."
Bevington also criticized the federal government on its new health care funding initiative.
"The new declaration that the federal government made on the $23 billion over five years for increased funding to medical services across the country amounts to $32 million for residents of the NWT," Bevington said.
"That's not going to solve the problem with our health care, with making employment packages attractive to southerners," he said.
"We'll see ourselves falling further behind."
