No carbon emissions problem in Canada

Re: “MP makes a weak case against carbon tax,” March 27

In his recent letter to the News, Denis Hoffman is critical of MP Glen Motz with respect to his views on the federal imposition of a carbon tax. He claims that Mr. Motz gives no details to support his claim that the carbon tax is a bad idea and secondly, that there is a cover-up of the cost to taxpayers. Mr. Hoffman then goes on to give his rationale in support of the carbon tax. Unfortunately it is Mr. Hoffman’s case that should be characterized as weak, not MP Motz’s. The reality is that the Liberal government knows how much this tax will cost Canadians, but are unwilling to share this information.

While Mr. Hoffman is correct that two-thirds of Albertans will receive rebate cheques from the provincial government, these rebates are roughly one-third of what the tax will take from the pockets of these people. To suggest that the tax is revenue neutral is laughable. It is not revenue neutral to the taxpayer, nor to the voters who heard nothing of this tax from either the federal Liberals or the provincial NDP during the run up to their respective elections. The estimates provided by the Alberta government ignore many factors, especially with respect to transportation of goods, are have been roundly criticized as underestimating the true cost. Mr. Hoffman’s assertion that the carbon tax makes it possible to drop the small business tax by one per cent is simply untrue, as there is no tie between these two taxes. The other factor that seems to get lost in the shuffle, is the fact that this tax costs millions to collect and millions more to distribute, again at the expense of the taxpayer.

The irony of all this is the fact that Canada does not have a carbon emissions problem, though the world arguably does. Canada’s emissions are not the problem. We absorb more carbon than we emit. The thinking that we should fall on our economic sword in support of an ideal that relates to others (China, U.S, India) behaviour is baffling.

Canadians and especially Albertans are already seeking ways to conserve and develop green technology as there is an economic incentive to do so. Instead of a punitive tax that will fill government coffers, but do little to affect emissions, especially in other parts of the world, the government should be incentivizing green technology and then exporting this technology to those countries that truly need to clean up their acts. Doing so would actually have a positive effect on global emissions much more so than the myopic approach the federal Liberals and the provincial NDP have taken.

Jim Taylor Medicine Hat