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Dear Member of Parliament,

Re:  Elimination of the Visitor Rebate Program and the job losses at the Summerside Tax Centre

The decision to eliminate the Visitor Rebate Program was made without consultation with the Union of Taxation Employees, which represents 700 members working at the Summerside Tax Centre.

The impact of this decision is significant to the province of Prince Edward Island.  They cannot sustain the loss of jobs as equivalent replacement jobs simply do not exist.

As you may be aware, 132 permanent employees received Workforce Adjustment (WFA) letters and we expect that 100 of these employees will continue to be employed by CRA.  The remaining employees are hoping to find other employment within CRA, but there are no guarantees.

In addition, as of June 2007, the services of approximately 45 term employees are no longer required.  These employees would normally work 3-12 month per year. 

The average salary of an employee affected by this decision is approximately $44,000.00 per year and the total annual salary loss to the PEI economy is: $2,805,000.00.  

*Employees working year round
**Employees working 3-12 months per year (average for this calculation is 9 months)

Local businesses in Summerside are already suffering from the loss of a large number of PEI residents who have moved to Alberta to find gainful employment.  The further loss of almost 3 million dollars will be devastating to the economy of Summerside.

As our elected Member of Parliament, we need your help to fight the elimination of the Visitor Rebate Program and protect jobs in Summerside.  At a minimum, we need to ensure that the CRA finds replacement work for the affected permanent and term employees.

In Solidarity,

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