May 7, 2004

Ottawa – Jay Hill, Member of Parliament for Prince George-Peace River, continued his fight today to reinstate Mackenzie residents’ eligibility for the Northern Residents Tax Deduction. Hill made the following statement in the House of Commons:

“Mr. Speaker, another income tax deadline has just passed to remind the residents of Mackenzie, B.C. that the Prime Minister's promises are worthless.

Mackenzie, a small remote town in the Rocky Mountains facing ongoing discrimination at the hands of the federal government. Although further north, more isolated and with far less amenities than nearby cities to the southeast, Mackenzie residents do not qualify for the northern resident tax deduction.

When the Prime Minister visited my riding as finance minister, he promised Mackenzie citizens he would review this blatantly unfair practice. Once back in Ottawa he promptly forgot that commitment to the good people of Mackenzie.

No more excuses, the Prime Minister has had a decade to review and correct this obvious error and now he is the one in charge. Mackenzie residents want the Prime Minister to honour his commitment and tell them whether they will get the northern resident tax deduction when they file their income tax forms next year, and if not, why not?

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