power of ideas. -- in today's Orillia Packet

When Liberal leader Stephane Dion visited Orillia in April, he made comments that should partially restore the confidence of anyone who is frustrated with Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system.

In speaking about the environment, Dion sounded like a Green Party candidate. He talked of carbon taxes on polluters and reforms of the tax system. He also told Orillians of the need to have both economic growth and environmental sustainability.

The Globe and Mail reported this week that Dion is poised to unveil a carbon-tax scheme that would correspond with personal income tax cuts. The idea is to make this policy the centrepiece of the Liberal election campaign when an election is finally called. It's complex and risky, but it's also the sort of bold, creative action the Green Party has been advocating for years.

And for those who sometimes feel they are wasting their vote by supporting fringe parties, that news should have the ring of music. The reality is that, even in our flawed electoral system, political parties don't necessarily need to gain power to significantly influence public policy. It was the CCF, grandfather to the NDP, which championed universal health care. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Reform movement out of the Canadian west was enormously influential in driving the political agenda when it came to fiscal public policy in the 1990s. Now the Green Party, having never been elected, can be seen to be having the same impact when it comes to environmental policy.

The Greens have long advocated a sea change in the way taxes are levied, arguing that enormous strides can be made in environmental sustainability just by making pollution expensive using taxes, while rewarding companies and individuals who adopt environmentally friendly measures. Increasingly, the party's policies and its growing support in the polls have been grabbing the attention of the Liberals and Conservatives. Though it's still early, it sounds as if Dion has embraced those general principles wholeheartedly.

This week Canadian Press reported a new poll suggests most Canadians support the idea of a carbon tax, but an overwhelming majority like the idea of using the tax system to punish or reward environmental behavior.

Even in Alberta.

Now, with another federal election in the offing, one of Canada's two major parties appears to be ready to make the leap. Executed properly, it could become the most progressive and creative policy shift Canada has seen in a generation or more.

In an era of political and electoral cynicism, such news underlines the power and wisdom of voting for ideas.

James Morton
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