Dear Editor:
Re: Budget Bore, Feb. 18 Viewpoint.
I was disappointed to read your editorial on balanced budget 2015.
During the 2013 provincial election campaign, I knocked on thousands of doors and heard about local priorities directly from the people. One of the biggest concerns for voters in North Vancouver was the health of the B.C. film industry — in fact, nearly one out of every four homes I visited had some relation to the sector.
There were two promises made to the film industry in the election platform: the extension of the distance tax credit to the capital region of Victoria, and the addition of the post-production sector to the Digital Animation or Visual Effects (DAVE) tax credit. The film industry has been lobbying for these two items for years.
The distance tax credit was delivered in budget 2014, and I am thrilled to report that, after continued hard work by my colleagues and I, the DAVE tax credit was extended to post-production and will be in place on March 1.
I am sure the thousands of people on the North Shore who make a living directly and indirectly from the film industry would not consider balanced budget 2015 boring.
Jane Thornthwaite
MLA, North Vancouver-Seymour
