EDITORIAL PAGE — Short-sighted and mean-spirited

Last year, the British Columbia government was advised, by its own job protection commissioner, to participate in a plan designed to secure a long life for Cominco’s Trail smelter.

The restructuring called for a reduction in the Water Licence Tax (the infamous tax on gravity) and property taxes, as well as cuts in energy, transportation and purchasing.

All parties except the government pulled together to implement the plan, which led to the loss of 632 jobs last year. About $27 million in savings has been achieved to date, but no tax relief has come. Instead, the province piled on another $8 million annually of new taxes and levies since the commissioner’s report.

Which makes the government not only abysmally short-sighted, but mean-spirited as well. David Zirnhelt, B.C.’s economic development minister, deserves to be taken to task for this massive blunder, along with his boss, Premier Michael Harcourt.