TASER NATION – TONY WILSON AND SECTION UPDATE – ABORIGINAL LAW (VOL. 20, NO. 1)
Good column by Tony Wilson and I liked the Section update on Aboriginal Law. All the best.

– Ron MacIsaac

RE: THE 4.1 BILLION DOLLAR SURPLUS – A LETTER KENNETH WALTON SENT TO THE TIMES COLONIST ON JULY 17, 2007
Last week your newspaper reported that the Province of British Columbia has a 4.1 billion dollar surplus.

For years the Canadian Bar Association has taken the position that it is in the public interest to eliminate Provincial Sales Tax on legal fees.

This stand goes well back to the 1990s when the NDP first introduced the tax. The Canadian Bar Association challenged the law, which was found to be invalid. The NDP then brought the legislation back in a new and different form. One would think the B.C. Liberals would not wish to identify themselves with this bad tax policy, which costs the public (who are often in needy situations such as divorce or matrimonial settlement problems) an additional burden just because they use a lawyer. It is not like they can avoid using a lawyer if they want a decent outcome. Unlike other professions in British Columbia, lawyers are the only group singled out by this tax.

Meetings with provincial officials over the years and the fact that this tax brings in an excess of 100 million dollars a year is said to be significant. The question “What will we replace it with?” was put to the Bar Association. Well now, the province has its answer. If it eliminates the Provincial Sales Tax on legal fees, as it should, it will still have nine 0s behind the 4 in its 4+ billion dollar surplus.

There is no question this sales tax on legal services is bad public policy. It encourages larger corporations that use legal services to go to tax free Alberta or tax free Ontario. One wonders why….

– F. Kenneth Walton, F. Kenneth Walton Law Corporation

Send your "Letters to the Editor" to bartalk@bccba.org.

These letters were published in the April 2008 issue of BarTalk.