Carbon tax a ‘mistake,’ Duncan says
Posted on 30 September 2008 by Jack
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion was sideswiped by one of his own yesterday, when Ontario’s Liberal finance minister, Dwight Duncan, said it would be “a mistake” to implement a carbon tax in the midst of shaky economic times.
“One of the things that I think would be a mistake right now is massive shifts in tax burden at a time when there’s uncertainty,” Mr. Duncan told reporters.
When reminded that Mr. Dion and his federal Liberal cousins were attempting to do just that, Mr. Duncan stumbled.
“The federal circumstances are, are, uhh, you know … I mean listen, all the parties are now advocating fairly dramatic shifts,” he said.
Mr. Duncan was responding to a report issued yesterday by TD Economics. The report recommends the introduction of a carbon tax as a way of reducing corporate and personal income taxes.
Until yesterday, Queen’s Park Liberals had followed Premier Dalton McGuinty’s lead and remained neutral on Mr. Dion’s Green Shift carbon tax plan. The plan, which aims to shift the tax burden from income taxes to a tax on carbon emissions, has dogged his campaign thus far and has proven to be unpopular even with many Liberal candidates.
Popularity: 23% [?]
September 30th, 2008 at 11:41 am
The carbon tax is a mistake and a failure just as has been proven in Europe and eleswhere, just like gun control has been proven to be a mistake and a failure in Europe and elsewhere. But since when do Liberals learn from their own mistakes let alone the mistakes and failures of others?
September 30th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
There is no indication the carbon tax has proven a failure in Europe. This may not be time to implement any tax, just as it’s unlikely most of the promises made by all the political parties regarding taxing and spending will be implemented as long as the world economy is in question.
We should make no mistake, the carbon tax will become a reality if not sooner than later and not just by a few countries.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
JKill the equally useless long gun registry and invest that
$1-2B into developing cleaner sources of energy. But a carbon tax, never. It’ll disappear into general revenues just like all the previous ‘feel good’ taxes have in the past and Mother Nature will continue to call the shots.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Carbon tax, gas tax, it’s all a TAX!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhSQLyYM1kA&feature=related
October 1st, 2008 at 8:22 am
And the CBC did not air this story on the National. Instead they were more interested in Liberal hot air… To think we pay for that vile crap.