Check It Out: Laugh or cry at the pumps
By Joan Janzen
A sign at a gas station listed gas prices as: Regular Unleaded: Arm, Plus Unleaded: Leg; Super Unleaded: Both. Under this was another sign which said “We provide onsite home refinancing to help out with gas purchase.”
Giving Canadians something to laugh about at the pumps is a good diversion, because otherwise they may shed a tear because of the rising cost of gas. Franco Terrazzano, the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, addressed the topic.
“Gas prices are soaring right now. Depending on what province you’re in, 31 percent to 42 percent of the price of gas consists of taxes. In Montreal it’s at 42 percent. They’re paying six different types of taxes in Montreal. In many provinces the tax makes more than a third of the price at the pump,” Terrazzano explained.
If you’re wondering what kind of gain Canadians get from a carbon tax, you’re destined to be disappointed, because there is none. The government quietly reveals stats which show emissions are rising. Meanwhile their claim that the carbon tax is revenue neutral is not proving to be true. For example, if a two-person working family in B.C. makes more than $59,000/year, they aren’t eligible for a rebate.
The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Well, the government’s answer to higher emissions is to jack up the carbon tax, but that’s not all, Terrazzano said. “The government is also going to hammer us with a second carbon tax. That second carbon tax will add about 16 cents per litre to the cost of gasoline. In 2030 you’ll get soaked for about $40 in taxes when you fill up a mini van.”
Another example of insanity is our Canadian government sending more delegates than any other country to the UN climate change conference in Glasgow, for the greater good of our nation. A total of 277 bureaucrats, plus the PM’s official photographer, videographer and lead speechwriter, 17 press secretaries and communications directors, four CBC reporters and the entire Green Party caucus. While the host country only sent 227 delegates on the short drive to Glasgow, Canadians have yet to hear the total cost of this latest government venture.
Terrazzano continued to say, even if the government brought our energy industry to a screeching halt, which seems to be their goal and would inflict so much pain, it wouldn’t do anything for the global environment. Even Trudeau admitted this.
In a 2018 interview Trudeau said, “If Canada stopped everything tomorrow and the other countries didn’t have any solutions, it wouldn’t make a big difference.” Unfortunately his words didn’t make much of a news splash.
Meanwhile, groups such as “Support Canadian Energy” offer often neglected information, stating that emissions intensity from the oil sands dropped 27 percent in six years. “Instead of transitioning our energy industry into oblivion, Canada should take advantage of this industry’s strengths. We should be growing our industry, displacing oil from countries that abuse human rights and the environment,” a representative from the group said.
“Carbon tax is a tax plan; it’s not an environmental plan,” said Terrazzano. “If you really want to put together an environmental plan, you have to take a global outlook. Canada makes up only 1.5 percent of global emissions.”
Carbon tax isn’t just on gas; it’s on everything, because everything, including food, is transported on trucks which use diesel. It becomes even more complicated when all major political parties are carbon tax cheerleaders.
Groups such as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Support Canadian Energy believe there’s power in numbers. Groups like these are soliciting help from Canadians in an effort to make Canada a better place to live.
You can contact me at joanjanzen@yahoo.com