Carbon numbers are not adding up

According to Environment Canada, Saskatchewan’s greenhouse gas emissions were 75 million tonnes in 2013. Most of the emissions consist of carbon dioxide. With a population of 1.16 million people, this means that each person is responsible for 65 tonnes of GHG emissions. At $20 per tonne, the cost per person will be $1,300 and at $50 per tonne, the cost will be $3,250.

Ralph Goodale has said that a middle class family of four will receive $200 more than they spend on the carbon tax. At one time, Goodale said the tax would be revenue neutral, in which case every man, woman and child should receive $1,300. The numbers simply don’t add up.

Pollsters now divide Canadians into four groups as follows: upper class, middle class, working poor, and poor. While Liberals only talk about the middle class, it would be nice to know how the other three classes will be impacted by the carbon tax. I suspect that money will go from the upper class, working poor, and poor to the middle class. We know that some large emitters will be tax exempt for competitive reasons, farmers will not pay the tax on fuel, and there will be administrative costs, etc.

Mr. Goodale should explain why a family of four is only receiving $600 or $150 per person when, in fact, the tax in the first year is $1,300 per person. It would be nice to get the facts, just the facts. Paul L. Baerg, Saskatoon