BC NDP demands dropping the carbon tax

In a move that reeks of pandering for votes now at the expense of our children's future, the BC NDP is calling for the BC government to eliminate the carbon tax due to take effect July 1.

To give some perspective, the tax will be 2.4c/L, and has been offset by a personal tax reduction. According to Premier Gordon Campbell:

"We will have the lowest personal income tax for everyone earning under $111,000 a year," he said, adding the province will also have the lowest business taxes of any G8 country.

He said the average family of four will pay $25 [more] to drive 20,000 kilometres but that the same family will save $45 in income tax, putting them $20 ahead.

Given recent gas price increases, the carbon tax is a very small part of the total price. (The tax also applies to diesel, propane, natural gas, and furnace oil.) The NDP wants to do nothing over the summer and prefers to "target major industrial producers such as the gas, oil, cement and aluminum industries."

Fair enough. But BC has also committed to a cap-and-trade system, though the plan is undefined as yet.

The NDP here sound very much like Hillary Clinton and John McCain in the United States when they called for a 'gas tax holiday,' to cut prices over the summer. Every economist consulted said it was a dumb idea, and Barack Obama had the courage to say it was foolish. It was a blatant attempt to buy votes then, and that is what the NDP is doing now.

This just shows how out-of-touch with reality the NDP is. They think 'industry' can be made to pay for everything while we citizens/consumers evade responsibility. Everyone has to carry their fair share.

CBC Article on the story: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/20...