Carbon tax/cap-n-trade kiboshed

Good news!

OTTAWA -- Conservatives have kiboshed a carbon tax, Environment Minister Peter Kent confirmed Thursday.

"It's off the table," he told reporters Thursday after accepting an award from World Wildlife Fund International on behalf of Parks Canada.

"There's no expectation of cap-and-trade continentally in the near or medium future."

B.C. has a carbon tax.  What has it done to curb anything other than jack up the price of gas (not that it needs to go up further)?

It's ridiculous to me that in Canada, it being a very large country to transport goods, that about 1/3 of fuel costs is taxed.  It's equally ridiculous how much the oil companies mess around with prices.  Supply and demand my ass.  High fuel costs are hard on manufacturers, farmers, airlines, transport, and even governments themselves who pass on all of the costs onto you and me.

Nixing a carbon tax is good first step, but lowering fuel taxes and putting a check on oil companies price gouging would go even further and actually help our economy and growth.

The Liberals' Big Ideas

So after the hoopla, what were the big ideas that came out of the Liberal Thinkers (Not Doers) Conference over the weekend?

Freeze the corporate tax rate

Two-tier health care (!)

Carbon tax

The Liberals believe that when they had a similar conference back in the 60's and early 90's that it helped propel them into power shortly thereafter.  Do any Liberals believe that's really going to happen now, especially in discussing the dismantling of the very big idea that they created stole from the NDP out of the conference back in the 60's... public health care?

It's obvious that this whole event was a charade to simply raise money for the party and get old party hacks like David Dodge and Frank McKenna involved again. At over $650 a pop to attend, they claim it was non-partisan and using technology, they reached out to over 50 places (read: Liberal MP offices) in Canada. 

Whatever.

To prove it was non-partisan, the Liberals left out the actual people who would implement the big ideas coming out of this conference if they ever came to power--Liberal MPs.

Let's look at the ideas...

They want to freeze the corporate tax rate.  After coming out of the recession, Liberals want to choke hold the very engine that actually creates jobs and provides wages, and thus more income tax revenue.  What thinkers!!!

But with the Liberals opening the door on private delivery of health care, will the Conservatives use this as a wedge issue for the next election, or will Canadians have to finally open up to the idea that our cherished public health care system won't be able to afford to cover everything into the future?

On the carbon tax... this again?  Ignatieff doesn't seem warm to it anymore, but don't count it out.  Notice though, that whenever Iggy comes up with an idea that there's backlash against it and he ends up backtracking by saying, "Canadians have said loud and clear they don't want a (carbon tax, election, etc.)".

I don't know about you but I think all three ideas are unpopular with the majority of Canadians and the Conservatives can use them to their advantage.

Instead of invigorating ideas that might get them elected, it appears that this Thinkers Conference did the opposite.

Day 13 of the Federalection: Green Shift gets Shafted

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said today that his Green Shift plan featuring a controversial carbon tax is not a major part of his election platform.

"You have said it was but never me," Dion told reporters.

His surprise declaration follows by a day campaign appearances in the Toronto area where he failed to mention it once in his speeches.

Dion released the Green Shift plan in June in Ottawa with great fanfare. It proposes to tax fossil fuels while cutting taxes for lower and middle income Canadians.

"I have always said it was an important policy for Canada. I strongly believe it would be good for Canada," he told reporters.

Dion said: “Okay, maybe I didn’t use the word `green shift’ ” but denied he was downplaying the policy.

It appears that the Conservatives continued bashing of Dion's Green Shift in TV ads and on the campaign trail, even so much so that Liberal MPs had a hard time selling it, that more people were calling it a carbon tax, Dion himself is putting the policy on the backburner (pun intended).

Will voters now say, "Oh, it's not an issue anymore, so I'm okay with the Liberal brand" or will they say, "What DO you stand for now, Mr. Dion?"

This is a major flip flop on Dion's part, and the Conservatives will likely come out with TV ads and run with this. Well they should anyway.

This could be a major turning point in the election if spun properly by Harper and Co. Just when polls showing the Liberals catching up again and Conservative support slipping--there's still three weeks left in this puppy, so a swing around with the Conservatives above 38% means they're in "m-word" territory.

I suspect Harper will get a 1-2% bump after the debate after he (hopefully) hammers Dion on his Green Shift shaft.

On Dion's Green Shift Carbon Tax

The big buzz in the Canadian blogosphere is how Liberal leader Stephane Dion wants to tax carbon, lower income taxes to "balance" it out. I'm not going to bother getting into the debate on this policy. Why?

Because I'm asking, why does anyone believe that Stephane Dion and the Liberals will even win the next election?

They won't. And you know who knows it? Ignatieff and Bob Rae. Do you hear them standing up and defending the Green Shift policy?