B.C. New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix plans to bring back a tax on banks and is not ruling out bringing in other new taxes if his party forms government next year.
But business owners who hated the former corporate capital tax, which the BC Liberals eliminated soon after taking office in 2001, can breathe a sigh of relief.
"We're not bringing back the corporation capital tax," Dix told Business in Vancouver during an in-person chat on a range of business issues.
"There's relatively little room [for new taxes.]"
Little appetite for new taxes did not stop Dix from announcing a plan on March 29 to create a $100 million student grant program to be paid for with revenue from a reinstatement of a tax on financial institutions.
The BC Liberals eliminated that tax in 2008.
Dix stressed that skills training would be one of the key areas on which he will focus if he becomes premier.
The grants to post-secondary students would be made on the basis of need, not grades. The Liberals eliminated many of these grants in 2004, Dix said.
"If there's any decisions on taxation, we'll let people know well in advance of the election and we'll have a costed program," Dix said.
He would not commit to balancing the budget each year but said he believes in a balanced budget over the course of a four-year term in government.
