It will be a tough sell but Western Canadians care about the environment as much, if not more, than other Canadians. Just look at the beauty of Western Canada -- that's worth fighting for. The Green Shift makes sense and will work if given a chance.
Dion ready to sell his carbon tax to the West
Conservatives accuse Liberals of stoking more resentment
Juliet O'Neill, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, June 30, 2008OTTAWA -- Federal Conservatives and Liberals are accusing each other of purposely stoking resentment in Western Canada as Stephane Dion prepares to sell his national carbon tax proposal in Alberta, heart of the country's energy industry and bastion of Conservative political support.
When the Liberal leader heads to Calgary later this week he'll have to face down what some experts call the bogeyman of East-West politics -- Liberal Pierre Trudeau's 1980-85 National Energy Program (NEP).
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a Calgary MP, has said the carbon tax would not only damage the West like the NEP but "screw" the rest of the country, too.
With the premiers of the three northern territories, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan all out swinging against the carbon tax, Dion appears headed for hostile territory.
"Mr. Dion will meet hostility, if there is hostility, with sincerity and thoughtfulness," Liberal environment critic David McGuinty, an Ottawa MP, said in an interview. "I just don't think there's any other way to meet it. We're not going to appeal to negative instincts, we're not going to try to pit this group against that group, and ignite a fire."
3 comments:
Let's be honest, this in not an environmental policy this is a tax grab. It is not just the west that will be hurt, it is the Canadian Economy as a whole.
The anti-Harperites consistently want higher taxes...suggesting that higher business taxes will help lower income earners. Simply put (and what these pro tax liberals don't realize) is that it is all businesses that create the jobs and wealth in this country.
When these business fail or when they are taxed at inappropriate levels, they are less productive. Less productivity means fewer jobs, fewer jobs means less employment, less employment hurts all segments of society...especially the lower income earners. Less employment means less demand for jobs and even lower demand. This lack of demand drives down wages...and forces companies to relocate to more competitive tax zones...and who gets hurt the most...again the lower income earners. Simplistic...yet common sense.
Now lets look at the Ontario Liberals and the Federal Liberals under Dion and their push for more tax revenue whether it is higher corporate taxes or the INFAMOUS Dion Carbon Tax. Higher taxes are a drag on any economy.
It is also important to note that while lower income earners are further hurt by this Tax Grab...and make no mistake it is a Tax Grab...not an environmental policy, it is the Tim Hortons middle class that will pay the majority of this tax.
Again, another assault on the middle class and families
"The anti-Harperites consistently want higher taxes...suggesting that higher business taxes will help lower income earners."
Let us by honest. No one fimilar with Liberal policy over the last 8years would have the time of day for such an idiotic claim.
As for the Liberals being in trouble in "the West", there is no disputing that the it will hurt them in Alberta and Sask. However,so what? The Liberals do not stand any chance of doing anything there anyway. Vancouver and Victoria are a different matter. There is no region of the country better positioned to take advantage of the carbon tax. It is mild weather all year long.
What I don't get, is , that at every opportunity libs beat PMSH with the Kyoto stick;
Pablo got his 'Kyoto is not dead' bill passed,
yet when libs finally come out with their enviro plan,
the hill they chose to die on,
not one target (Kyoto was all targets), not one regulation, and no charts or graphs on the amount of ghg reduction will result from the liberal plan.
So, you can't really blame the West for seeing the liberal plan as a tax grab and wealth redistibution.
The only details in the plan are non-environmental, shifting cash around.
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