Budget Holds Some Good News for Northerners

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 04:00 PM

Pat Bell, Minister of Agriculture and Lands says there is some news in the budget that should spark smiles in the north. "I think some people missed the reclassification of marked fuels" Bell tells Opinion 250. "The rules are being changed on the use of marked fuels, so in addition to adding some mining and forestry equipment to the list of authorized uses, you can now, legally, use marked fuel in quads and snowmobiles."

The added $100 to the homeowners grant is another positive note, although Bell admits, $100 doesn't seem like big chunk on an individual basis, it does amount to $309 million province wide.

Bell is also proud of the committment to the trades, with $90 million in tax credits over three years for companies that hire apprentices and $39 million over three years for the Industry Training Authority so it can have 35,000 apprentices.

There was a committment to expand the "Bladerunners program" to Prince George, which helps get high risk youth into the trades. The program has been succesful on the Island, and is well received by the construction industry.

There is also a bit of a break on buying trucks or SUV's. "Boosting the threshold for the vehicle luxury tax to $55 thousand dollars should mean some savings to anyone buying a new vehicle" says Bell "I know people would rather we didn't have that tax at all but at $55 thousand, that should exempt the vast majority of vehicles in the region."

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Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 04:00 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Foo738 on February 21 2006 7:27 PM

Well, Mr. Bell, isn't that wonderful for people buying a new vehicle! Consider the pensioner on a limited income is part of and has contributed over a lifetime to this community who cannot ever buy a new vehicle. Oh gee, they get $100 to try and stay in their home which is a pittance compared to buying a new vehicle. I think your government needs to confer with some old timer's re. the budget. I am not impressed. I am ever more than less impressed by that woman who presented the budget spending $600 on a pair of shoes. That would have paid someone's groceries for a month and that is hungry people, not dinners out. Yike, I am disgusted but perhaps you can tell that.

Posted by: acrider54 on February 22 2006 6:14 AM

Yes the economy is doing so well! Who is benefitting from the so called economy, I sure as heck not seeing anything from it. Nothing has changed for me except rising municipal taxes, gas prices, heating costs, all utlities, insurance premiums, user fees and so on. The $100 homeowner grant is a joke when the money from that is spent on other things going up and up and up. Wages sure as hell do not follow suit.