To the Editor:
Teachers are involved in many aspects of school life and our community. They organize fundraisers for causes within schools, within Kitimat, and outside our community. They facilitate student council, organize study groups, volunteer for community organizations, meet with students before and/or after school to provide extra help, run clubs for a variety of student interests, provide students with a safe haven at lunch, take students to music festivals and drama zones, and they also coach sports teams both for school and for the community. Parents also do many of these activities for the schools and the community. As a matter of fact, people who are neither teachers nor parents are involved with these types of activities in the schools and the community.
If elected, the Liberals have said they will create a tax credit of $500 for teachers who coach sports/arts.
Not only is offering a credit such as this offensive to teachers, parents, and community members who all actively give their time in many capacities; but it is also implies that a tax credit is some sort of pay off. At a time when we are sensitive to the disparity of income between the 1 per cent and the other 99, and when we learn that our very richest have been hiding income off-shore and not paying their fair share, to offer such a break to a select few only reinforces the ideals of elitism and that it is somehow okay to avoid paying one’s share.
This proposed tax credit is neither ethical nor equitable when there are so many people in so many capacities that give to their communities.
Sincerely,
Kristine Lewis