Government keeps hands in your pockets
Minister Gallant disingenuous when he suggests raising minimum wage ensures equal opportunity for citizens
BPE or Basic Personal Exemption is the amount of money a person can make before paying income tax to the government. It is the first line on your income tax form.
Minister Sonny Gallant is being disingenuous when he suggests that raising minimum wage ensures equal opportunity for citizens to participate in our economic growth. No matter what the minister’s statistics indicate, it is a fact that when wages go up, workers’ hours are reduced or eliminated and companies have little choice but to increase their product costs to consumers.
However, a major restriction to economic stimulation is the amount of money government keeps from a person’s paycheck. Minister Gallant’s government takes more money, in income taxes, from Island workers than any other government in Canada and has done so for the past 10 years.
For eight years his government froze the basic personal exemption while other provinces raised theirs annually leaving low-wage Islanders paying more in income tax than all other Canadians. While campaigning, the current premier stated that his government would raise the BPE by 20 per cent.
In 2016 his government raised the BPE less than $300 or 4 per cent, but offset that by raising the HST to 15 per cent, so that P.E.I. would have equal taxation with its sister provinces.
For 2017, his government raised the BPE amount 2 per cent or $160 to $8,160, still the lowest in the country. The next lowest — Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — have raised theirs to $11,635, which means Island workers are $3,500 behind their Maritime counterparts. This is a disgraceful record.
So, if Minister Gallant wants to ensure equal opportunity for citizens to participate in economic growth, then his government needs to get their hands out of workers’ pockets.
If his government wants true tax equality with its sister provinces, then he needs to raise the BPE by at least $3,500 allowing low-income earners to keep more of their hard-earned wages.