Letter to the Editor

Taking a vacation from my summer vacation for just a moment. Hopefully you're all enjoying a carbon tax-free summer.

Just submitted this to the Hamilton Mountain News. We shall see if it is published in this week's edition.

Conservatives the only party with Canada's environmental and economic future in mind

Editor,

All three main federal parties agree on the need for action on the environment but the only party offering a realistic plan is the Conservative Party. While the Liberal candidate and his leader stubbornly cling to the notion of a carbon tax as the cure-all to Canada's climate change dilemma, the governing Conservatives have already taken action through, amongst other initiatives, funding carbon capture and storage in Saskatchewan via the federal budget, which the Liberals supported in absentia, and by Prime Minister Stephen Harper taking a lead role at last month's G8 Summit to create a post-Kyoto environmental accord.

Truth be told, the carbon tax is not an environmental plan and Mountain residents have seen through this from the beginning. Not only do they not trust the Liberal party to keep its 'revenue neutral' promise, but the lack of clear targets for greenhouse gas reductions raises concerns. How will the carbon tax truly decrease our GHG output? What targets has Mr. Dion set? How can a tax on consumption be revenue neutral? If we have learned anything from past consumption taxes, it is that Canadians will not change their habits in spite of punitive government measures.

The Conservative Party took the lead on climate change during last fall's Throne Speech, which the Liberals again supported, outlining measures to reduce GHGs by a minimum 20% by 2020. Further down the road, we can expect reductions of 60% in gradual, measured declines that will not hurt everyday Canadians and without force-feeding a carbon tax. The Conservative Party has also cut the GST from 7% to 6% to 5% and delivered real income tax cuts without levying new taxes against consumption.

Mr. Dion's plan also takes a very political turn when he starts talking about how to get the provinces to agree to the carbon tax. He and his caucus have been talking about politically motivated side deals in British Columbia and Nova Scotia and his Ontario MP's have freely admitted the carbon tax will hurt everyday Canadians and, as Ken Boshkoff, MP Thunder Bay-Rainy River put it, "transfer wealth from the oil patch to the rest of the country." Mr. Dion is not Pierre Trudeau, but his carbon tax will be a divisive policy. Canada's federation is strong, but with a carbon tax, the national unity debate will rear its ugly head again. If the Mountain Liberal candidate wants to be critical of those playing politics in the environmental debate, he should be honest with voters and question his leader, not compliment him for such a punitive policy.

The Liberal Party has banked its electoral fortunes on the carbon tax at a time when fuel prices are at a record high, groceries are increasingly more expensive, and Canadians are just coming around to mass transit. Adding a tax to carbon will drive the costs of natural gas and fuel even higher, increase our cost of living, and offer no incentive to use public transit. The Conservatives, through income tax cuts, tax credits for transit users and increased infrastructure funding, have already addressed these priorities, again, without raising taxes.

Carbon taxing will be permanent and damaging to Canada. For every group that has spoken in favour of it, there are even more who speak out against Dion's plan. The agriculture sector, shipping and trucking, the corporate sector, and yes, even the NDP, all believe that a new tax is not the answer. Committing future governments to realistic GHG reduction targets is a far more sensible policy than the carbon tax, which will be permanent and force future policymakers into a decision-making corner. The Conservative plan offers policy flexibility but maintains hard target dates for GHG reduction.

Canadians know better than to trust the Liberal leader when he makes his case for the carbon tax. It is the height of hypocrisy for Mr. Dion to criticize the government's environmental record when the Liberal Party, with he as Environment Minister, oversaw Canada's GHG output rise at its highest levels ever. Their talk then led to no action on climate change, what makes now any different? Canadians want real action and the Conservative Party is the only party getting things done for all of us.

Alex Buck, Hon. B.A.
Secretary, Hamilton Mountain Conservative EDA