Author Description

Tax increases in the Lower Mainland and Victoria absorb 44% of the income tax cut, compared to 51% of the income tax cut for the rest of BC. [...] The impact of the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis is evident in large rises in unemployment rates in the Kootenays and the Cariboo in particular. [...] The December 2004 report of the BC Progress Board notes major differences between Vancouver and Victoria on the one hand and the rest of BC on the other in terms of incomes, education, housing starts and business incorporations (net of bankruptcies). [...] In the remainder of cases, the share of the tax cut is smaller than the share of tax filers, with the exception of Fraser-Fort George RD, where the shares are equivalent. [...] In the Capital Regional District, the average tax cut was $584, but the community of North Saanich ranked among the largest average tax cuts in the province, at $929, or 59% higher than the average for the regional district.