United Church minister wants poor protected from HST hike

Rev. Steve Berubé, the minister of St. Paul's United Church in Riverview, is calling on the Gallant government to give some thought to protecting the poor from any planned tax hikes in the upcoming provincial budget.

Berubé, who was one of more than 250 people who attended a public session in Dieppe about the upcoming budget, says he was surprised by the number of people expressing concern about the impact tax hikes would have on the province's poor.

"As people began talking about increasing government revenue, there were a number of people who actually spoke about the harm that increasing sales tax would have on the poor," Berubé said in an interview on Information Morning Moncton.

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​"It's going to hurt somebody with less money in their pocket rather than somebody with more and it didn't just come from the usual suspects like myself and people from the Common Front for Social Justice but from a number of people."

Berubé says the public session heard from one young man who works in a part time job earning minimum wage who told the crowd he could not afford to pay an extra two per cent for necessities.

In its Choices report, the government estimates that increasing the HST by two per cent would result in an increase in revenue of nearly $300 million.

"To help mitigate the impact of an HST rate increase on low-to-middle-income New Brunswickers, a new HST tax credit could be created," the government report says.

Time to study tax policy

Berubé says he is not alone in calling on the Gallant government to consider further measures to cushion people already living in poverty from any tax hikes planned.

"This is what surprised me, is several people kept raising this issue and whether or not there was the possibility of exemptions."

"P.E.I. used to have a system where children's clothing as well as clothing purchases at a certain level were exempt under $100," he said.

Berubé suggests it is time for the provincial and federal governments to do a comprehensive study looking at tax policy and in particular its impact on poor people.

"It's time to have a broad-ranging conversation about tax policy and its impact on the overall economy, especially on those who are at the lower end of the income scale."

"How do we bring fairness back in to the tax system — it's time for a major study in terms of that."