Liberal give-and-take good for culture, bad for mining

Post-secondary students left out in cold

John Bermingham
The Province

Winners and losers in yesterday's provincial budget:

Winners: Taxpayers

A new carbon tax of $10 per tonne for carbon-dioxide emissions will be mostly offset by a provincial income-tax cut.

The tax will bump up the cost of a litre of gasoline by 2.4 cents this year, rising each year until it hits 7.2 cents in 2012.

But in June, every B.C. resident will get a one-time $100 "climate-action dividend." Low-income families will get an extra annual "climate-action credit" of $100 per adult and $30 per child, paid quarterly.

Winner: The environment

Victoria is spending $1 billion on climate-change programs and incentives, including grants for energy audits and retrofits, provincial sales-tax exemptions for Energy-Star appliances and tax relief for conventional fuel-efficient vehicles that meet federal guidelines.

Winner: Arts and culture

A $150-million BC150 fund for B.C.'s 150th birthday, along with millions for the Vancouver Art Gallery, Science World and the new Maritime Museum.

Loser: Forestry

Forestry was looking for a rescue package, but instead received a roundtable on forestry.

Losers: Students

Post-secondary student leaders say tuition fees have increased by $32 million in the budget and that student loans are due to fall by $20 million.

Winner/loser: Business

The province is cutting small-business taxes by $255 million this year and reducing corporate taxes by $415 million, but energy-intensive industries such as mining could be particularly hard hit by the carbon tax.

© The Vancouver Province 2008