Scammer
Banned
Premier Gordon Campbell announced the tax cut in a televised address Oct. 27.
The British Columbia government says it will suspend a planned 15-per-cent reduction in personal income tax rates for the first $72,000 of personal income.
Premier Gordon Campbell said in a release Wednesday that cabinet made the decision to provide the government with more economic options.
"In order to ensure the executive council has maximum flexibility to set government's economic and fiscal agenda, cabinet has decided to suspend the planned tax reduction," Campbell said.
The 15-per-cent cut, announced in an Oct. 27 address by Campbell, was quickly criticized as a desperate measure by the embattled premier to gain public favour following the unpopular reception of the harmonized sales tax.
The tax reduction was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.
Campbell also said Wednesday that a provincial budget would be delivered Feb. 15.
The budget would be tabled "in accordance with statutory requirements," and would contain no new initiatives beyond what was statutorily required, Campbell's statement said.
The premier announced Nov. 3 he would resign because public debate had become too focused on him and not on which policies were best for the province. The party is set to choose a new leader Feb. 26.
The cut would have amounted to a maximum saving of $616 in taxes for someone earning $72,293 or more. Someone earning $50,000 a year would have saved $354.
The tax cut was expected to cost $568 million in the first year, rising to $638 million per year by 2013-14, Campbell said.
Opposition New Democrat Leader Carole James said following Campbell's October address that the tax cut appeared to be a "desperate attempt to buy back public support."
"He failed miserably," said James. "He talked down to taxpayers … The public's not going to buy it."
James's prediction was borne out by opinion polls following the televised tax cut announcement, which showed that Campbell's single-digit popularity had barely budged as a result.
The suspension of the tax cut came on a day when Campbell fired B.C. Energy Minister Bill Bennett for openly calling for Campbell's immediate resignation.
After the firing, Bennett called Campbell "intimidating" and "abusive," and said that issues like the advisability of the tax cut could never be discussed around the cabinet table as long as Campbell remained premier.