The Spin:
Carole James claims her party will support the oil and gas sectors in rural BC and protect the jobs and revenues it creates.
The Facts:
Carole James actually plans to do the opposite. She will dramatically raise taxes on this industry and punish it for the contribution it has made to growing our northern communities, all to fund her short-term spending plans.
The Proof:
The Carole James NDP and their close supporters have consistently advocated for policies that will directly impact the productivity of the industry, and with that risk the jobs and revenues that the industry provides.
Here's the Full Story:
- BC’s oil and gas industry provided the single largest source of resource revenue for the province in 2007 with $2.37 billion. Revenues have increased nearly 60 per cent since 2001 and are now more than three-times the average in the 1990's. Roughly 34,000 jobs are supported by this industry.
- The growth of this industry is specifically due to incentive programs that have encouraged more drilling and year-round activity, and a competitive tax regime that has attracted more industry activity to the province.
- Carole James’s NDP has voted against every budget that has enhanced the viability of this industry, and did not support either Energy Plan that laid the groundwork for today’s success.
- They are now speculating on imposing further costs on the industry purely for ideological reasons, including:
- Cancelling or reducing incentives that support the summer drilling program, which would immediately reduce summer drilling by 50 per cent and throw hundreds of people out of work.
- Raising royalty rates, putting the current $2 billion in revenue the government receives at risk by driving exploration to other jurisdictions.
- Through the BC Federation of Labour, they have proposed a further 25 per cent tax on oil and gas profit – an action they themselves admit would, when coupled with reducing incentives, cost the industry at least $1 billion a year.
- Carole James further insists that even with these punitive taxes, she still intends to use the government surplus that comes from this industry to fund her excessive spending and tax commitments.
The Bottom Line?
Carole James and the NDP will tax and punish the industry that has brought jobs and prosperity to northern BC as well as billions in new revenues to fund government programs. The result will be fewer jobs, less revenue for government, and less opportunity. Attacking an industry that is a shining star in our economy is simply foolish, and will destroy the gains we have made.
