A SENSELESS TAX: MAYOR
Naheed Nenshi recently announced he’ll seek a third term as mayor next fall, and as he did so, he voiced some frank and legitimate concerns about the Notley government’s new carbon tax.
The mayor opposes the imposition of the tax on city operations, especially Calgary Transit, pointing out the levy is at odds with the longheld belief that public transportation is more environmentally friendly than individuals commuting in their own vehicle.
“It just doesn’t make sense to tax public transit with a carbon tax, if the goal of the carbon tax is to get people to use public transit,” Nenshi told Herald columnist Don Braid. “The premier recently said I was being short-sighted (because) the goal of the carbon tax is to emit less.”
Nenshi notes the city has been retrofitting its public buildings for years to make them more energy efficient, and requires that all of its operations use 100 per cent renewable electricity.
Adds the mayor: city-owned “Enmax is one of the most forward electricity utilities in the world on reduction of emissions. So, what more do you want us to do? I’ve still gotta have police cars and fire trucks and buses. I’ve still gotta have garbage trucks, and the last I heard, there’s no such thing as an efficient electric garbage truck.
“To penalize the city for doing all the things that are right just doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Nenshi, who has also expressed disappointment the levy is imposed on non-profit groups as well.
The city said last month that the carbon tax is expected to increase its costs by about $6 million a year, which translates into about a 0.5 per cent property tax hike.
Nobody knows what the actual toll will be, of course, until the hastily crafted tax comes into effect Jan. 1. There’s uncertainty, for instance, about the impact of the government’s decisions on power purchase arrangements, which could reduce profits at Enmax. Nenshi worries this could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars, and deprive Calgarians of an annual dividend that lowers property taxes.
The mayor is to be congratulated for voicing his misgivings about the fairness of the carbon tax. Many ordinary Albertans have already expressed their own concerns about its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The NDP may want to argue public bodies such as the city should be encouraged to reduce their carbon footprint even further, but at a minimum, it should exempt public transit from the worrisome levy. As Nenshi has noted, the extra money has to come from someone, and we know who that is — the weary taxpayer.