A Thunder Bay man is feeling traction in his war against high property taxes thanks to a northern Ontario think tank.
Keith Scott tells us advice he’s getting from the Northern Policy Institute is more productive than any meeting with provincial politicians.
“And until somebody important experiences the pain and difficulty we’re going through, I don’t hold out a lot of hope, other than the fact our group will get together when our summer people come back.”
The local man adds his Schrieber mother is close to relying on family to keep her in the only home she’s ever known in Canada.
He also appreciates while the Institute doesn’t make the law, it can influence policy with politicians.
“They were asking the question that was 2 or 3 steps ahead, and I’m only looking at one or two ahead, so I was most impressed with the way they interrogated, and asked questions, and then followed up for clarification. Which is something I haven’t experienced in 3 years.”
The local man adds he feels he’s spun his wheels with provincial politicians for a few years now, and is looking forward to a report from the NPI, which he’ll take to provincial politicians.
“Go back to Mr. Gravelle and say ‘Ok, you didn’t do anything with your Liberal government for 2 years, when you had the chance. And now you’re going after the Conservative government, and they don’t want to listen.’ And quite frankly, I wasn’t impressed with Andrea Horwath’s approach when she was here.”
The Thunder Bay man says he’d love the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation to disappear, but knows that won’t happen.
He also has figures showing his mother’s taxes were $2759.54 in 2010, in 2018 it was $7677.79… he’s waiting for the numbers for 2019.
