This article on Burnaby Now is published on June 6, 2009. Since 1999, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, had held “gas tax honesty day” each year. Yes there are a lot of tax associated with gasoline, and it is a tax grab from the government. Same with tabacco tax and alcohol tax. But, the Carbon Tax imposed on gasoline and other fossil fuels is not the same! Again and again, people are misunderstood because those who publish articles do not understand (or do not want others to understand) the “revenue neutral carbon tax” system that is implemented in BC. In BC, the carbon tax is set up so that if you change your behaviour, you may be rewarded! I don’t want to re-write what i wrote before, you can read more about the BC Carbon Tax here and here.
I agree that we need to be honest about what tax we’re paying into the “Gas tax”; but we also need to be honest about the “carbon tax”.I don’t think this article was honest about that! Also, I also disagree that Stephen Harper was right when he said a carbon tax will “screw everybody”.
The bottome line is that we know that we need a price on carbon so that we’ll eventually change our behaviours! Don’t forget that the carbon tax in BC was found to be the best climate change policy in Canada.
A great article on the May 19 Globe and Mail analyzing how the BC Carbon Tax “’survived” the recent BC provincial election while Stéphane Dion Carbon Shift didn’t. Stewart Elgie, David Boyd, and Chris Waddell , three Law, Economics, and Journalism professors in Ottawa, have come up with six reasons:
Do not make Carbon Tax as the main issue for the election campaign (that’s what Dion and James did)
carbon tax is very important, but there are more important political issues
Keep it simple (not many understand the BC carbon tax; no one understands Dion’s carbon shift)
Timing is important (Dion brought up the carbon shift when oil is at record price; oil price was 1/3 of the height during the recent BC election)
Good communication! (Dion couldn’t get his point across; James couldn’t come up with solid carbon policy for her party)
Deep pocket (Dion had less marketing budget than Harper; James had less marketing budget than Campbell)
Best policy may not win! (Dion lost on a better policy; yet Campbell won with a better policy) - yes, the Carbon Tax is one of the best policies!!
Here’s one of the best quote about why Carbon Tax should not be the centre of the election campaign:
“If you are a travel company trying to sell a tropical vacation, you emphasize the beach, not the flight.”
- by Angus McAllister
This is it!! We want a sustainable/low carbon future; let’s emphasize on the ends, and let’s work together to get there - through carbon tax, renewable energy investment, energy conservation, or whatever the means might be!
Don’t forget to vote on May 12, 2009! If you don’t like the BC Carbon Tax, you need to vote; if you like the BC Carbon Tax, then you also need to vote!!!
You probably already have read this article about a new poll published indicated that Canadians, especially British Columbians, do not like the BC carbon tax. This type of news, especially during election time, always spreads extremely quickly. Some results from the pool:
62% Quebecer respondents supports the carbon tax idea - Quebec currently has a carbon tax which is imposed on energy producers only;
BC has less than 40% support on carbon tax, least in Canada and less than Alberta;
60% of respondents in British Columbia said the tax hasn’t done much to reduce fossil fuel use in the province;
Almost 60% BC respondents said the carbon tax hadn’t motivated them to change their behaviour; and
The support for BC style carbon tax gets less support in all provinces/territories.
I have many questions to ask the respondents, both those in BC and outside of BC. To begin with, it’s hard to say how many people actually understand the BC “revenue neutral” carbon tax. My guess is - not many. The lack of understanding of BC’s revenue neutral carbon tax definitely would result in low support in “BC style” carbon tax. Further, it’s very interesting to note that Quebecers have the highest support to the carbon tax idea, when they already have one! There are several differences between BC and Quebec’s carbon tax, and one of them is that the carbon tax is imposed on energy producers, distributors and refiners only to pay for carbon they emit at a price of approximately 1/3 of what the carbon is priced at in BC in 2007. Although the cost is not directly imposed on residents of Quebec, it is ultimately passed down to the rate payers. Perhaps this is why less objections are recorded in Quebec. Finally, apparently 60% BC respondents believed that the BC revenue neutral carbon tax hasn’t motivated them and that the tax hasn’t effectively reduced fossil fuel use in the province. Again I must say if we understand how the carbon tax works in BC, one would be more motivated to change. it’s like if you don’t understand the coupon, would you use it? Regarding to the comment on the effect of BC’s carbon tax - i think we need to wait a bit to see the report card. I haven’t seen any data specifically states the province’s GHG emissions since the introduction of the carbon tax, and to be honest I would love to see it. Before it is released (which i think it certainly will, unless Liberals loses this election), we should be skeptical but be aware that we need to know more before we draw the conclusion.
Finally, another intriguing quote from the poll:
In a further on-line survey of 1,000 British Columbian voters, Harris-Decima found about as many respondents were angry with B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell for introducing the tax as were angry with NDP Leader Carole James for opposing it.
The BC Carbon Tax is one of the main topics of the upcoming BC election on May 12, 2009. The Liberal party is trying to defend the Carbon Tax while the NDP is very keen on getting rid of the Carbon Tax and getting started with carbon cap-and-trade system.
Another topic that is interesting in this election (to me), is the referendum on Single Transfer Vote (STV). This sytem, in theory, can help candidates from parties such as Green and Independent to gain some seats. I want to explain it in a few sentences but this animation is the best clip on what STV is and how it works in 1:28!
Do you think that the Green Party would have a better chance of getting a seat under this system? I think they would….
BC Carbon Tax, BC Election | flo | 
June 18, 2009 7:08 am | 
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