by Andru McCracken
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 266 and Valemount Chamber of Commerce co-hosted a breakfast with Member of the Legislative Assembly, Shirley Bond on Monday. And Bond had no shortage of items to talk about.
Bond said the employer health tax is a burden on business owners that will affect municipalities and school districts and non-profits and many others.
She also railed against the speculation tax, which she calls a ‘Cabin Tax.’
“I’m not opposed to a speculation tax; we need to reduce speculation,’ we were assured by the premier that British Columbians would not be affected by this tax.”
“We are next door neighbours to Alberta; if we have developers that want to come here and build houses or subdivisions or invest in Valemount, we are basically saying if you come here your tax rates will be higher,” she said. “That is having a very chilling impact on projects across the province.”
She talked about her support for the Transmountain Pipeline.
“There is a private sector company that wants to build that project,” she said. Bond was disappointed it was taken over by the Canadian Government.
She spoke about the upcoming referendum on electoral reform and asked people to get familiar with it so they can make an informed choice.
“I have to ask all you to figure out what to do when that voting package arrives in your mailbox,” said Bond. “Please get involved and engaged.”
Bond, albeit gently, argued against proportional representation because of the new size of the ridings and other reasons.
Bond also spoke about changes being made to the Agricultural Land Commission by the NDP.
She also argued against extending the offer of veterans’ license plates to first responders and RCMP.
“If you want to create a license plate, create one for them, don’t diminish veterans’ license plates,” she said.
Afterwards Bond made herself available to the folks that had gathered.
