What is the Conservative Plan for the environment?
Lately Scheer, the leader of the Opposition, has been in the news for criticizing PM Trudeau's carbon tax plan. And while it's never good for your criticism itself to make the news, the Scheer was not only using false information (and outright lies) in his rebuttal, his party did not seem to have a comprehensive plan of their own to offer.
The challenge for any Canadian government is to reduce greenhouse emissions, but at the same time not hurt our industry or jobs.
WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS DOING:
Starting in 2019, Canadians will start to pay more for the gas they burn and the products they buy, but the cost will depend on where you live – and whether your province has its own carbon tax, or whether Ottawa is imposing its own. Ottawa’s goal is to reduce emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Yukon and Nunavut will have to pay a tax of $20 per tonne of emissions (4.4 cents per litre of gasoline). The tax will increase by $10 a year until it reaches $50 per tonne by 2022, but most of it will be returned to residents in the form of rebates — which for many Canadians will be more than what it will cost them (as per the government). Here’s what that means for the average family in Ontario: According to the federal government, the average Ontario household will pay $244 in direct and indirect costs for carbon, but will receive $300 under the “climate-action incentive,” for a net benefit of $56.
The federal government said 90 per cent of the carbon tax revenue collected will go back to households in the affected provinces and territories through Climate Action Incentive payments; the remaining 10 per cent will go to hospitals, schools and businesses in order to help develop greener solutions.
THE LIES OF SCHEER
That is the government plan. Now let's see what (or where) is the Opposition's plan. The Conservative Party opposes the carbon tax and are trying to make it a wedge issue ahead of October’s federal election.
- First of all, Scheer was caught in a lie. Previously he said his own plan would meet the Paris accord, now he is saying it won't. Second, despite MOST economists saying a carbox tax is the most efficient way to reduce emissions, Scheer has opposed it from the beginning on ideological grounds. Once again, what's his plan?
- In the New Year, Scheer was caught making false statements again. First he said a carbon tax won't reduce emissions and cut jobs.
Fact: B.C. ALREADY has a carbon tax plan. According to the B.C. government, since implementation GDP grew by 17 per cent and net emissions dropped by 4.7 per cent. So the idea that carbon taxes stifle businesses by itself is false. Alberta has already followed with its own carbon tax plan.
Fact: Countries and provinces which already have carbon taxes in place haven’t reported that factories or companies left, and in places like Sweden the economy has grown under a carbon tax, and the government says small- to medium-sized businesses were competitive on the global marketplace because of their green initiatives, the World Bank reported in 2016.
- Next, Scheer said there is an "exemption" for largest emittors so the plan won't work.
Fact: Environment Canada spokesperson Sabrina Kim explained that this is the same approach taken by the EU, California, Quebec, Alberta, and it will cut pollution, drive innovation and keep Canada's industries competitive. Chris Ragan, chair of Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission, said it’s less of an exemption and more of a tax break to keep Canadian companies competitive.
If all you did is you put a carbon price in place, you’d be paying that tax on your carbon emissions but your competitors in Nebraska wouldn’t be. So Scheer is challenging the very mechanism used to keep Canadian companies competitive.
So, one has to ask:
WHERE IS THE CONSERVATIVE PLAN? Is it all hot air, and nothing to show for it? Do they even care about the environment at all?
Source: CBC, CTV, Global News
Image credit: Moudakis
Lately Scheer, the leader of the Opposition, has been in the news for criticizing PM Trudeau's carbon tax plan. And while it's never good for your criticism itself to make the news, the Scheer was not only using false information (and outright lies) in his rebuttal, his party did not seem to have a comprehensive plan of their own to offer.
The challenge for any Canadian government is to reduce greenhouse emissions, but at the same time not hurt our industry or jobs.
WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS DOING:
Starting in 2019, Canadians will start to pay more for the gas they burn and the products they buy, but the cost will depend on where you live – and whether your province has its own carbon tax, or whether Ottawa is imposing its own. Ottawa’s goal is to reduce emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Yukon and Nunavut will have to pay a tax of $20 per tonne of emissions (4.4 cents per litre of gasoline). The tax will increase by $10 a year until it reaches $50 per tonne by 2022, but most of it will be returned to residents in the form of rebates — which for many Canadians will be more than what it will cost them (as per the government). Here’s what that means for the average family in Ontario: According to the federal government, the average Ontario household will pay $244 in direct and indirect costs for carbon, but will receive $300 under the “climate-action incentive,” for a net benefit of $56.
The federal government said 90 per cent of the carbon tax revenue collected will go back to households in the affected provinces and territories through Climate Action Incentive payments; the remaining 10 per cent will go to hospitals, schools and businesses in order to help develop greener solutions.
THE LIES OF SCHEER
That is the government plan. Now let's see what (or where) is the Opposition's plan. The Conservative Party opposes the carbon tax and are trying to make it a wedge issue ahead of October’s federal election.
- First of all, Scheer was caught in a lie. Previously he said his own plan would meet the Paris accord, now he is saying it won't. Second, despite MOST economists saying a carbox tax is the most efficient way to reduce emissions, Scheer has opposed it from the beginning on ideological grounds. Once again, what's his plan?
- In the New Year, Scheer was caught making false statements again. First he said a carbon tax won't reduce emissions and cut jobs.
Fact: B.C. ALREADY has a carbon tax plan. According to the B.C. government, since implementation GDP grew by 17 per cent and net emissions dropped by 4.7 per cent. So the idea that carbon taxes stifle businesses by itself is false. Alberta has already followed with its own carbon tax plan.
Fact: Countries and provinces which already have carbon taxes in place haven’t reported that factories or companies left, and in places like Sweden the economy has grown under a carbon tax, and the government says small- to medium-sized businesses were competitive on the global marketplace because of their green initiatives, the World Bank reported in 2016.
- Next, Scheer said there is an "exemption" for largest emittors so the plan won't work.
Fact: Environment Canada spokesperson Sabrina Kim explained that this is the same approach taken by the EU, California, Quebec, Alberta, and it will cut pollution, drive innovation and keep Canada's industries competitive. Chris Ragan, chair of Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission, said it’s less of an exemption and more of a tax break to keep Canadian companies competitive.
If all you did is you put a carbon price in place, you’d be paying that tax on your carbon emissions but your competitors in Nebraska wouldn’t be. So Scheer is challenging the very mechanism used to keep Canadian companies competitive.
So, one has to ask:
WHERE IS THE CONSERVATIVE PLAN? Is it all hot air, and nothing to show for it? Do they even care about the environment at all?
Source: CBC, CTV, Global News
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