WHEREAS it is becoming increasingly difficult to find willing individuals to volunteer their time in the critical emergency response areas of ambulance attending, firefighting, search and rescue, and other similar emergency response situations; AND WHEREAS volunteer emergency responders are absolutely essential in most communities in Canada due to the simple fact that these communities cannot possibly afford full-time paid responders, and the dependence on volunteers has become part of Canadian culture and is an accepted part of everyday life; AND WHEREAS these volunteers need to be recognized in a concrete and meaningful way for what they give to society as a whole: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities strongly encourage the federal government to pass legislation to amend the Income Tax Act to provide a 3,000 deduction on taxable income for volunteers performing a minimum of 100 hours service in the taxation year as ambulance attendants, firefighters or persons assisting in search and rescue operations, or other emergency situations.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE Resolution B61 entitled Income Tax Deduction for Emergency Volunteers, if adopted, would effectively allow a 3,000 income deduction for emergency service volunteers. Emergency service volunteers play a valuable role in our society. They contribute substantially to the security and safety of our country and citizenry, and are sometimes even called upon to risk their lives to help their fellow citizens. The important role that these volunteers play is already recognized in the Income Tax Act. Where public authorities provide honoraria to emergency service volunteers, the first 1000 is excluded from income. This measure enables public authorities to provide small amounts of compensation to emergency service volunteers without the burden of having to prepare tax information slips. I would like to note that before the 1998 Budget, this exemption was 500 and only benefited fire fighters. While current tax recognition for emergency service volunteers is reasonable, providing a 3,000 deduction to all emergency service volunteers raises a number of fairness concerns. First, the measure, in effect, would allow emergency service volunteers to receive the equivalent of over two months pay at minimum wage B.C. without having to pay any federal or provincial income tax. In doing so, this measure would compromise an important principle of the tax system, which is that individuals with comparable amounts of income should pay comparable amounts of tax. Second, it would be difficult to justify providing such generous tax assistance only for emergency service volunteers when so many other kinds of volunteers provide valuable public services to Canadians without being recognized by the Income Tax Act. I trust that my comments are helpful in outlining the policy concerns with respect to this measure.