For example, here’s an article in the February 28 2006 edition of the Vancouver Sun (a Canwest Global paper):
Ski patrol volunteers quit after tax collectors question free benefits
Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
[Vancouver Sun]PENTICTON – Three volunteer ski patrollers at a Penticton-area ski resort decided to stop volunteering recently after federal tax collectors suggested they might tax the free ski passes that the resort gives to the families of volunteers, a spokesman for the resort said Monday.
“It was a fairly hasty reaction to a situation,” said Jeff Plant, the general manager of Apex Mountain Resort Resort. “These people are very passionate, very committed to the community, and I think they saw it as an insult to the work they do.”
After a skier has been on the volunteer ski patrol for one year, Apex has been offering a free pass, worth $519, to the volunteer’s spouse. After two years of volunteer service, the resort offers a free family pass. A season pass for a junior is worth $220. Canada Revenue Agency spokesman Dan McGrath confirmed the agency is reviewing the tax status of benefits given to a volunteer’s family.
Here’s a letter to the editor regarding that hideousness:
Don’t public servants have anything better to do than penalize volunteers?
Published: Saturday, March 04, 2006
[Vancouver Sun]Re: Ski patrol volunteers quit after tax collectors question free benefits, Feb. 28
So, we have Revenue Canada tax collecting sleuths chasing Penticton ski patrol volunteers, and British Columbia taxmen were targetting B.C. shoppers who bought from Costco in Alberta.
The B.C. Liberals eventually saw the folly of their endeavours and backed off, while the Feds’ official spokesperson has confirmed a ‘review’ of the ski patrol project is underway.
The only review I see necessary is to determine who the dim bulb might be who thought up a project to penalize volunteers, who the supervisor might be who allowed such a ludicrous idea to go beyond the waste basket, and to then decide what the appropriate staffing action should be to ensure such ideas never surface again.
Do these public servants have nothing better to do with their time and our dollars?
Geoff Warren
Powell River
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
Contact Mr. Johannesen about this article using this form. Please refer to article's title.
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