The Great BC Carbon Tax Hoax
Posted by zweisystem on Thursday, June 2, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Ha, ha, ha; the Liberal carbon tax hoax is now exposed.
With much hype and hoopla, the BC Liberal government imposed a carbon tax on METRO Vancouver residents and with full support of the mainstream media, those who questioned the new BC carbon tax were derided as anti environmental, car loving zealots.
Those who questioned that the carbon tax was not a real carbon tax because tax revenue went into general revenue and not earmarked for carbon reducing transit initiatives like better transit, were given equal treatment. The carbon tax is good for you was the refrain from the higher purpose persons who sang in unison with the BC Liberals.
Well now, it seems our first carbon tax wasn't really a carbon tax at all and a second carbon tax is being mused by Premier Christie Clark is to pay for regional transit.
This poses a question, what was the first so-called carbon tax is in reality? A gas tax silly and now comes the real carbon tax!
The only people smiling about the proposed Liberal carbon tax are gas station owners in Blaine and Bellingham.
Metro Vancouver could be saddled with second carbon tax
By Frank Luba, The ProvinceJune 2, 2011
When Premier Christy Clark mused about using the carbon tax to fund initiatives like public transit, she wasn’t talking about the carbon tax British Columbians currently know and pay.
In an open letter to residents last month, Clark said she is “open to considering using the carbon tax to support regional initiatives, such as public transit.”
But NDP transportation critic Harry Bains said Wednesday the carbon tax Clark was talking about was a second carbon tax that could potentially be applied to the Lower Mainland to address TransLink funding problems, most notably the transportation authority’s inability to find its $400 million share of the $1.2 billion Evergreen Line SkyTrain connection.
Bains (Surrey-Newton) said he got the admission about a second tax from Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom in committee meetings last week. He doesn’t like the idea of a second carbon tax.
Bains contends the decision could been made to take the money from the existing carbon tax, which by 2012-2013 is estimated to be worth $1.1 billion. The tax brought in $740 million in 2010-2011 and is expected to reap $950 million in 2011-2012 — all of which was supposed to be revenue neutral because of tax cuts.
Bains also points out the Liberals made a choice to spend $563 million on a roof and renovation of B.C. Place Stadium instead of on TransLink or Evergreen.
“It’s not about a lack of resources, it’s about leadership, it’s about wrong priorities and about keeping people in the dark and making policies on the go,” said Bains.
In comments from Hansard, Lekstrom said the second carbon tax could be one of the “options” TransLink looks at to raise more money.
But he said the cash wasn’t going to be taken from the existing carbon tax.
“What I’m talking about, I made it very clear with the Mayors Council [on Transportation], is that if it was a regional carbon tax levy — this would be on top of the existing one — and if the TransLink area and the Mayors Council felt that was appropriate, then that would be one of the many tools they’re going to bring to the table to discuss how they’re going to raise their form of funding, not only for the Evergreen but long range,” said Lekstrom.
The legislature was sitting Thursday afternoon and Lekstrom was not immediately available for comment.
Other potential sources of revenue, all of which would require provincial legislation, would be a vehicle levy and road pricing or tolls.
