Speculation tax not well thought out

Re: “Carney: Speculation tax threat to rural B.C.,” March 21.

The speculation tax should be renamed the Collateral Damages Tax. The hardest hit by the tax will not be its primary targets — foreigners who choose to launder and stash their money in a safe haven like Vancouver. They will view it as an unfortunate but unavoidable increase in the cost of wealth insurance.

The tax is also a declaration of fiscal war on residents of other provinces who find B.C. to be an attractive place to have a second home and, in any case, are not the primary movers and shakers in the overheated Vancouver property market.

Other victims will include B.C. citizens of modest means who own recreational property, often by their families for generations. The ones who retire to such properties might no longer be able to afford to keep their properties. As pointed out by Pat Carney, this could lead to the hollowing out of rural communities on the Gulf Islands.

The sad thing is that the unintended consequences built into this tax law were readily foreseeable. In these early and heady days of wielding power, the NDP government has ignored the the need to carefully consider the ramifications of such a significant piece of new legislation before it is announced. Instead, the government has chosen to embarrass itself as it will now have to make major changes to the law.

However, the stress, anxiety and frustration suffered by those affected by the initial draft of the law are not likely to be forgotten.

Charles Woodruff Oak Bay