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Liberals propose a new tax grab
Recently in the Times & Transcript, Brian Murphy and Dominic LeBlanc apparently teamed up to declare allegiance to their leader’s carbon tax proposal. Most of the op-ed piece was the typical partisan rant, and at one point they even accused the Conservatives of “running scared from Mr. Dion’s plan.” When we examine the facts on a carbon tax, we should all be scared.
At one point they state that “Our plan will help the middle class and lift many Canadians out of poverty.” This is at odds with the facts most basic to the carbon tax concept.
A carbon tax must make it hurt to use fuel
According to well established facts, “…a carbon tax is effectively a tax on the use of fossil fuels, and only fossil fuels.” “The intention of a carbon tax is… to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide… It can be implemented by taxing the burning of fossil fuels — coal, petroleum products such as gasoline and aviation fuel, and natural gas.”
While “prices of carbon (fossil) fuels are expected to continue increasing as more countries industrialize and add to the demand on fuel supplies,” a carbon tax would artificially raise the price of fuel even more rapidly in order to discourage its use. This would spell disaster for those already struggling to heat their homes and fuel their cars.
How much will it really hurt to pay a carbon tax?
According to independent professional calculations, a carbon tax would raise fuel prices “$0.258 per litre of motor gasoline, $0.296 per litre of diesel fuel, and $0.279 per litre of jet fuel.” At current prices, this would mean buying regular gasoline at $1.64/litre.
A similar shocking increase would apply to home heating fuels. A carbon tax would “raise natural gas prices by 60–150%.” When it comes to coal (which still produces much of our country’s electricity), a carbon tax “means a price increase of 500–1,000% depending on the type (512% for lignite, 680% for subbituminous, 903% for bituminous, and 1039% for anthracite).”
As far as direct impact on electricity prices, a carbon tax would turn off the heat and turn out the lights for many Canadians. Something like the Liberal proposal would mean “a tax of $0.05854 per kWh for natural gas, about $0.0775 per kWh for petroleum, and between $0.1027 and $0.1137 per kWh for coal.” At NB Power’s current price of $0.0954 per kWh for electricity, a carbon tax would effectively DOUBLE the price of electricity!
How much more can we cut back?
Even if some New Brunswickers could drive less, many are already limiting their mobility as much as possible. We still have to go to work, kids still have hockey practice and what about the truck drivers that ply the roads every day to supply our grocery shelves? Food costs will balloon, and forget about the flight south in the winter – only the very wealthy will be able to afford such pleasures.

Liberal double-talk
On the one hand Murphy and LeBlanc complain that the Harper government “does nothing while gas prices continue to skyrocket.” At the same time their proposal is to give fuel prices a rocket BOOSTER!
With all their double-talk about “tax shifts” and “revenue neutrality,” the facts about a carbon tax are clear. A carbon tax is an INCREASE IN TAXES on carbon based fuels in order to make them cost more than most people are willing to pay. You cannot have a tax on carbon without RAISING TAXES on fuels that emit CO₂.
Following Dion’s deductions, a MASSIVE INCREASE IN TAXES “will help the middle class and lift many Canadians out of poverty.” By giving Canadians rebates on income tax equal to the increased taxes they are paying on fuel (“revenue neutral”), the consumer’s disposable income remains exactly the same. Where is the deterrent to consuming more carbon fuels if there is no greater impact on the pocketbook? A carbon tax is simply to make it HURT TOO MUCH to drive your car and heat your home!
Can Canadians really afford gas at $1.64/litre? Can you afford for natural gas and electricity prices to double? If a carbon tax doesn’t do these things, it will have no capacity to reduce CO₂ emissions; people will continue to consume the same way.
Here are a few final questions to consider:

1. If we shut down every industry, motor vehicle, power plant and all heat generation in Canada, what is the maximum effect we could have on global emissions? (Canada’s portion of global emissions - 2%)
2. If we achieved all of our Kyoto targets, how much would we reduce global emissions? (Canada’s Kyoto target reductions - 0.64% or 2/3 of one percent of global emissions)
3. Scientists believe GHG’s produce global warming. What exactly are these “greenhouse gases” in our atmosphere? (Water vapor (95%), CO₂ (3.6%), other gases (1.4%). Total human-caused GHG’s in the atmosphere: .28% (1/4 of 1%) – Now that’s turning up the heat!)
4. Are there still serious questions about how global warming is being addressed? (Yes)

Conclusion:
Let’s be responsible stewards of our environment, but let’s not fall for an enviro-panic tax grab that will go to fund things like the Liberal Sponsorship Scandal.
The Conservative government is instituting the first ever mandatory reductions on big polluters. At the same time they are spending millions to clean up toxic sites like the Saint John harbour and preserve large areas of Canada’s pristine parkland. They have moved to eliminate toxins that threaten our children, and protect Canada’s fresh water supply. The Conservatives are moving past the empty rhetoric of 13 years of Liberal reign; they are getting real results.

Dateline: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - Members Statements in the House of Commons:

MP Brian Murphy showed once again that he is the Liberals’ poster boy for their new play called “Gotcha.” During his statement he assailed a Cabinet minister for correctly stating policy under her portfolio, in contrast to an error in a government website. MP Murphy concluded that this conflict constituted a cover up and incompetence.

The Issue:

What is at issue when you read the statement carefully is that the Liberals were once again trying to manufacture a crisis. No reasonable thinking person would suppose that Minister Bev Oda sits down personally and types entries onto the government website. This shows how desperate the Liberals are to show that they are not alone in failure and scandal.

As the Cabinet minister responsible for International Cooperation, Ms. Oda is solely responsible for stating government policy regarding matching funds for aid to Burma. When asked in the House about the period of time matching funds were being offered, she answered clearly and definitively. Because of an error on the website however, Liberals Brian Murphy and Diane Marleau thought they once again had a “smoking gun.” Their stage prop was later corrected by some clerk, but that hardly qualifies as “an attempt to hide the incompetence of the government.” In this bit of theatre the court jester got his knickers in a knot trying to cover up his emperor’s new clothes.

The Drama Award:

Unknown to the viewing public, the Liberals had their own glaring inconsistency in this whole affair. We were struck with the oddity of Brian Murphy being cast to deliver these lines because, at the precise moment that the referenced question was being asked, Mr. Murphy was 1200 km away. According to reliable sources, our MP was munching sweet bread in the Moncton High School cafeteria at that moment. In the room with him were over 40 new Canadian immigrants and a federal judge standing a few scant feet away.

Unless the Liberals have succeeded in cloning MP Brian Murphy, we have to wonder what qualifies him to speak with such dramatic authority. Could not the Liberals at least have picked someone who was actually in the House of Commons to read their lines? This script had to come from command central at the OLO (Opposition Leader’s Office). Casting the junior MP from Moncton for this role was absentminded however – Brian Murphy was absent, and none of the Liberals minded.

Brian Murphy deserves an Emmy nomination for his manufactured indignation and self-congratulating pompousness. You would think that if he is going to play a role for his Liberal masters, he would at least be at the rehearsal when the script was written! Somehow Hillary Clinton’s gaffe of “landing in Bosnia under sniper fire” comes to mind… Liberal politicians have a great capacity for manufacturing memories.

Well into the spring session of Parliament, we have entered what many call “the silly season” where opposition parties relentlessly attack the Government on partisan issues, hoping to build momentum over the summer for a fall election. The Liberals in particular have thrown everything they can manufacture at the Conservatives, in hope that something will stick. To date the Liberals have been essentially ineffective, largely because no one gives them any credibilty. The have no policy, no effective leadership, no unity in caucus where their private meetings leak worse than the cast off row boat from the movie Jaws.

Here is a summary of polling results from the last week comparing Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Liberal leader, Stephane Dion. In every area Prime Minister Harper is preferred by Canadians two-to-one over Stephane Dion.

It’s no wonder the Liberals have been supporting the Conservative government instead of voting their professed opposition. These numbers, coupled with Dion’s support among francophones in Quebec (13%), would reduce the current Liberals seats in the House of Commons to about fifty.

According to Nik Nanos of Nanos Research, the greatest strength of the Conservative Party is “Stephen Harper’s personal brand.” This stands in stark contrast that his detractors made in the last election; rather than being a liability, he is the party’s greatest asset.