Maritimes want in on Northern Residents deduction
Dear Editor,
I have been canvassing door-to-door at homes and businesses across the riding of Cape Breton Canso. One resonating message is that life should be made more affordable for the hard-working people of the Maritimes, and this starts by creating better job opportunities and confronting our ever increasing cost of living.
We need immediate action here in the Maritime provinces to deal with our economic, social and environmental concerns, and the long journey of economic recovery in our region can be kick started by amending Revenue Canada’s Northern Residents Tax Deduction (NRTD) program to include northern maritime communities, particularly PEI and Cape Breton Island.
Under the NRTD individuals who live in prescribed communities (for at least 6 consecutive months beginning or ending in a taxation year) may claim the NRTD on their personal tax return. The NRTD provides a basic residency deduction to each member of a household of up to $7.50 per day, or $15 per day if no other member of the household claims the basic amount. Travel deductions for taxable travel benefits are also available.
NS and PEI have the highest consumer prices of all the provinces in Canada (excluding hyper inflated Alberta). However, NS, PEI and NB are excluded from the NRTD whereas northern communities of all the other provinces are eligible.
Voters have asked me to take action on their behalf to restore economic justice to our region. In response I’ve developed a petition to parliament for citizens to sign. The petition is available online at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nrtd2008/ and at retail stores as listed on the face book site “Petition Ottawa for Cape Breton and PEI”.
Maritimers working away in Fort McMurray (and other northern locations) who maintain a residence here may be already eligible for the NRTD and should check with Revenue Canada.
Mark Macneill, LLB, LLM
NDP Candidate for Cape Breton Canso
