By Arthur Weinreb
Thursday, June 7, 2007
This week, the Green Party of Canada released its policy on climate change entitled, A New Energy Revolution to Avert Global Catastrophe. Wow; straight and right to the point. Party leader Elizabeth May announced that the Greens would impose a carbon tax of $50 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions, an amount that would double by 2010. It is estimated that the $50 tax would add 12 cents to the cost of a litre of gasoline. Actually that figure is not entirely accurate; this Canada where we tax taxes. The carbon tax attributed to a litre of gasoline would also be subject to the GST.
While other politicians like Liberal MP Dan McTeague constantly rant and whine about gas prices being too high while others tell tales of conspiracies involving the big, bad oil companies, finally we have a politician and a political party that knows the truth about gasoline prices. And they aren't afraid to talk about it.
Gasoline is just too damn cheap.
In Toronto, the price of regular gas is running about $1.04, $1.05 a litre. Now what else can you possibly buy that is of any use that costs just over a dollar? You can't even get a half decent cup of coffee for $1.05. And if you can, you don't get anywhere near a litre of it. If you really think that the price of gasoline is too high, walk into a restaurant, plop down a loonie and a nickel and order a litre of wine. See if you get it. Or try buying a litre of milk for $1.05. There's no doubt about it; gas is a real bargoon.
Now of course, gas really doesn't sell for $1.05 a litre; its real price is more like $1.04.9. Now where else can you pay $1.05 for something and get a tenth of a cent back in change? And people have the nerve to say that oil companies are ripping off consumers. Finally we have a politician who understands the truth. Go for it, Elizabeth!
Now, Liz understands that Canadians are overtaxed and plans to reduce other taxes to compensate. That's a novel idea; a progressive politician who plans to decrease taxes. Perhaps the anti-war Greens will get rid of that pesky temporary income tax that was imposed early in the last century to fund World War I. Or even get rid of all those "temporary" surtaxes that no one else can seem to get rid of. At least Elizabeth doesn't want to destroy all Canadians by taxing them to death; she's quite happy to just destroy the economy that like it or not, runs on oil.
May begged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to steal her idea of the carbon tax. How politically nave can she really be? Harper would never ever do that. It's not that the new and improved Green Steve wouldn't tax us to save the planet; it's just that Harper and the Conservatives wouldn't steal policy. The party that is most adept at stealing the policies of other parties is the Liberals. All of Canada's major social programs that exist today were ones that the Libs originally stole from the CCF. And back in the early 1990s, after third party presidential candidate Ross Perot discovered deficits and the world began moving to the right, the Liberals, aided by Finance Minister Paul Martin (remember him?) began to steal policy ideas from the Reform Party, a party that disappeared because it was obviously too extreme for its own members.
The Liberals and the Greens have been joined at the hip ever since Liberal leader Stphane Dion and Elizabeth May got together to form their Red Green Party. Surely May would prefer a Liberal government to one run by Scary Stephen. Obviously her idea is such that even her buddy Steffi, his trusty dog Kyoto and his policy stealing party don't want it. Perhaps that should tell May something.
Much like Stephen Harper, Stphane Dion and the Liberals wouldn't be caught dead imposing a $50 a tonne tax on carbon emissions. And neither would the NDP's Jack Layton. They all know what the rookie leader of the Greens has yet to learn.
When it comes down to a choice of averting global catastrophe or saving their own political hides, the latter wins hands down.
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