Taxes Raised in British Columbia

British Columbia's far right Liberal Finance Minister, Gary Collins, announced a raise in the Provincial Sales Tax Rate of .5 percent yesterday in response to a mandatory 11.5 percent pay raise for B.C. doctors. ``Raising taxes is pretty much the last thing this government wanted or ever intended to do,'' Mr. Collins remarked to the legislature. ``At the same time, we've always said that we would make tough decisions when we had to... and this was a tough decision.'' The announcement was met with criticism from both the B.C. Federation of Labor and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, B.C. for clawing back the Liberals' earlier record setting income tax cut. The B.C. Liberal government has come under increasing scrutiny and criticism as it advances its plans for economic reform from the Opposition NDP and a broad coalition of interest groups.

Eatons Store Closed

Eatons, the venerable Canadian department store chain, has announced it will close for what appears to be the third and last time this coming summer. After 130 years of operation, the chain claimed bankruptcy in 1997, and again in 1999 before finally being bought by Sears Canada. Sears Canada CEO Mark Cohen announced the ``painful, and somewhat awkward'' decision Monday after having reviewed the lackluster performance of the chain for the past year. The remaining stores will be rebranded as Sears outlets, with minimal job losses expected.

New agents for border security at Michigan

The U.S. Customs Service will send 97 new agents to Michigan this year in an effort to increase security at the Canadian border. The Customs Service plans to put 308 new staffers along the northern border by next fall. Michigan is getting more than any other state in the United States. Michigan has been assigned nearly 150 new agents to assist with border security, increasing the government's presence along the country's northern border. The state will get about 90 Immigration and Naturalization Service land inspectors, 15 air and sea inspectors and 45 Border Patrol agents, officials said.