Discriminates Canadians

Dear editor: In 2007, my husband and I used our life savings to purchase a home on Pender Island, as the West Coast lifestyle and proximity to the ocean makes it worth the long distance we have to travel from Alberta, where we work.

We don’t have the luxury of living on Pender full-time, as it’s not possible for our family situation. This home is used by our families to spend time together and enjoy another part of Canada.

Pender has a fragile economy that relies heavily on both full-time and parttime residents buying goods and services locally. We are paying a Pender contractor $44,000 and a Victoria roofing company $14,000 to replace rotting structures to make our 1970s home safe and habitable.

The proposed two per cent penalty plus property tax on our modest threebedroom Pender home will cost an impossible $13,000 per year. We have been told exemptions might be available if we “rent a portion of the property.” Obviously the ball was dropped on research, as Pender has a ban on secondary suites.

Part-time B.C. residents already pay double the amount for property taxes. We do not drain B.C. social programs, government agencies or schools. We do support the local economy, and we pay federal income tax.

The B.C. government, with its proposed budget, has launched a campaign of intolerance and resentment toward Canadians. Is the Canadian government going to allow this shameful discrimination to proceed? Anita Zilinskas Calgary