Vancouver, BC – The Green Party of Canada denounces the provincial NDP Government’s decision to eliminate the carbon tax, and its tactics of pushing the legislation through in a single day without adequate debate.
Today as the NDP federal leader campaigns against Saanich Gulf Island MP and co-leader of the Green Party of Canada with the NDP candidate running in her riding, the Green Party wants to remind voters that the NDP has never stood for climate action. “Jagmeet Singh has never been willing to risk angering the Alberta NDP by opposing pipelines nor the BC NDP by condemning fracking,” said co-Leader Elizabeth May.
While Jagmeet Singh has voted with the Conservatives in Parliament against the carbon tax, David Eby returns to the NDP’s “Axe the Tax” roots, a slogan the BC NDP trumpeted long before Pierre Poilievre borrowed the three word jingle.
British Columbia was once a leader in climate action, particularly under the leadership of former Premier Gordon Campbell. Campbell established the “Gold Standard” of climate pricing by introducing Canada’s first carbon tax. Campbell’s tax was revenue neutral – every dollar taken in by the government was used to reduce provincial income tax.
“Gordon Campbell recognized the urgency of the climate crisis,” said Green Party co-Leader Elizabeth May. “He saw the devastating pine beetle outbreak, which was caused by warming winters allowing the pine beetle population to explode. It cost the province billions. Typically, a deep winter freeze would have limited the growth of this destructive pest, but the absence of such conditions allowed it to devastate an area of lodgepole pine forest twice the size of Sweden and ultimately spread into the boreal forest.”
The NDP’s campaign to “Axe the Tax” lost them the 2008 provincial election. B.C. voters supported the carbon tax. When the NDP did become government, the province soon departed from progressive climate policies. Former Premier, the late John Horgan, decided to keep some carbon tax revenue, using only some of it to reduce income taxes. And then the B.C. NDP started subsidizing fracking and LNG, driving up Greenhouse gas emissions.
The repealing of the carbon tax further exemplifies this concerning trend. It is a disappointing regression for a province that once led the charge in climate action, and it undermines the commitment needed to address the climate crisis effectively.
“We urge all British Columbians to voice their concerns regarding this critical decision that jeopardizes the province’s environmental future,” said co-leader Jonathan Pedneault. “It is essential for the government to prioritize effective climate policies and reinstate leadership in the fight against climate change all while building a prosperous economy.”
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