It is like you are saving the world one added tax at a time. Only politicians would believe that the refineries and gas providers would be constrained from polluting by a tax on the end users. And why is the consumer tax imposed before the supposed industry caps are even attempted?
Ontario’s new Cap and Trade deal in combination with California and Quebec is nothing but a tax grab before the federal governments get into the same larcenous act. And if you believe that there will be some savings from electricity for Ontario users down the road, you probably also believe in the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa Claus.
And yes, it is the perfect time for the government in Ontario to impose the new gas taxes. Both gasoline and natural gas are at the lowest price levels we have seen for many years. When prices for regular gas normalize at the pumps within the next couple years to something in the range of $1.36 per litre, the government is hoping we will not notice the more than six cents for the province’s cap and trade tax and we are paying GST on top of it.
What is annoyingly syrupy about the entire deal is that Premier Wynne and her minions are posing the entire tax with the virtue of saving our planet. It seems our cap-and-trade tax money will be used to replace normal tax money to pay for virtuous objectives such as greatly expanded public transit around metropolitan areas and particularly Toronto.
This is the smoke screen that is being thrown up while we wonder just how realistic some of the environmental objectives might be. The problem with the idea of reducing greenhouse emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 is that God knows how few of us will be here then to demand our money back.
This entire scheme smacks of corporate care not consumer care. In Ontario, we still have the potential for corruption in corporate political donations and in third-party advertising that makes a joke of spending controls on politicians.
Is it any surprise that we are facing billions in new taxes while our politicians are wrapping themselves in the righteous cloaks of saving the environment? It seems the worst pollution was the words coming from the Ontario finance minister when he read his budget news yesterday.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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