GP2 Green Plan
The Green Party of Canada has called for a graduated carbon tax as part of a far-reaching package of ecological fiscal reforms to ensure that Canada meets its greenhouse gas emissions commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
The Green Party of Canada has called for a graduated carbon tax as part of a far-reaching package of ecological fiscal reforms to ensure that Canada meets its greenhouse gas emissions commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
The climate change policy package is one of the highlights of the Green Party Green Plan (GP2) which was released in 2006 by the Party's federal leader, Elizabeth May.
The cornerstone of the party's climate change policy is tax shifting—reducing taxes on incomes and payroll while introducing a graduated levy on fossil fuels.
"The litmus test for any party's Green Plan is that Canada keep its promise to the world and meet our Kyoto commitment," said Elizabeth May.
"Any made-in-Houston scam masquerading as Canadian green policy will be strenuously opposed by the Green Party."
She said that the common belief that a new carbon tax will be politically unpopular, even if it is clear that the overall family tax burden will go down, is based on the idea that the Canadian public is not very bright.
"The Green Party believes the opposite," said May. "We will explain why it makes sense to end subsidies to the wealthiest companies on earth to make the world's most profitable product—a barrel of oil; why it makes sense to reduce taxes on things we want, like income and employment, while increasing taxes on things we don't want, like greenhouse gases and smog-causing pollution."
The climate change policy package outlined in GP2 also contains incentives for the development of wind power and biofuels, regulations to improve the fuel economy of cars and trucks, a shift to energy efficient residential and commercial building codes and an Emission Cap and Tradable Permit system to help large polluting industries meet their emission reduction targets.
Along with the sections on the Kyoto Protocol and adaptation to climate change, GP2 also sets out Green Party initiatives for dealing with air quality, water quality, toxic chemicals, the national parks system and the "brain drain" in federal scientific capacity.
