You can count them on both hands. Of all the naysayers and rabble-rousers who pounced on Premier Gordon Campbell's 2001 tax cut, only ten had the courage of their convictions to write on the envelope, "return back to sender".

Not long ago, the BC Liberals announced a sweeping tax reform package. To the delight of most British Columbians, taxpayers were allowed to keep an extra $1.5 billion or 25 percent of their hard-earned income for themselves and their families. Predictably, the special interest groups howled in protest.

In light of new documents, it's safe to say the protestors were a minority. More accurately, they were the chemical fraction of an inaudible whimper. Opposition to income tax cuts was amplified by the media but it seems most taxpayers were happy to take the money and run. And why not. They earned it.

In a September 2001 speech, Premier Campbell issued this challenge:
"- I want people to know this: if they think the tax cuts we've provided them with were wrong, I'm willing to allow them to personally change that policy by writing a cheque and sending it to the Finance Minister- and we will allow people to even tell us the services they would like to support-"

A full year later, it turns out that of the 1.8 million British Columbians who pay income taxes, only ten took up the Campbell challenge and refused the money.

Documents recently obtained from the Finance Department show that only $5,210.63 of the $1.5 billion tax cut was returned to the province from private citizens in British Columbia. That works out to a .000003 per cent return ratio to tax cuts given.

Only three individuals dedicated their tax cuts to health care, for a total of $1,180. The two largest cheques for $1000 and $2000 were directed to the Ministry of Human Resources for the purposes of "income assistance" and "to help social workers." A $480 cheque was targeted for "habitat protection and pollution prevention." $12.25 was to be divided between "child care, post secondary education and transition houses." And $150 was given to the Ministry of Finance to spend as it sees fit.

Presumably, the other 1.8 million taxpayers had no qualms about keeping the extra 25 percent in disposable income. Struggling to cope with the unstable job market and economy, British Columbians came to spell relief: t-a-x-c-u-t-s.

That tells you something about the level of protest to the Campbell's tax relief package. It's muted barring the exception of a noisy minority.

One of the more vocal critics of the tax reform package was the British Columbia Federation of Labour. When they slammed Campbell's income tax cuts, they purported to represent 470,000 members of affiliated unions. At most, only ten card-carrying union members or .00002 percent were so incensed by the tax cut that they mailed it back to the government.

It wasn't the rank and file who took issue with the tax cuts. It was the union bosses who had a political axe to grind. Pretend as they might that their largely forced-membership supported the outdated views of organized labour, none or next to none of those members cared so much as to return a dime of that tax break.

It goes to show that no group is more out of touch with the pulse of the province than the tax cut bashers. A survey of how many union leaders returned their tax cut would be even more enlightening.

The survey of returned tax cuts also illuminates some of the reasoning behind the Liberal's economic policy. When the province released the Second Quarterly Report last month, BC commentators noted that the 2001 tax cuts failed to achieve targeted revenue projections. But they missed the point.

British Columbians voted for the Liberal's tax cuts not because they thought government revenues would multiply like the miracle of the fishes and loaves. But because they felt entitled to a bigger slice of the wealth they created. How compassionate are the special interest groups to say otherwise