The Liberal tax-shift vs the Green Tax-Shift

Since the introduction of the Liberal carbon tax and tax shifting plan a couple of weeks ago, I have found myself in numerous conversations trying to explain the difference from the Green Party’s plan.

Boiling this down to sound bytes is a difficult, but necessary task for us.  There are many small differences, but a few key ones.

1. Essentially, the Liberals have proposed a very watered down version of the GPC plan.  It’s pointed in the right direction, but is taking baby steps, and we don’t believe that it will get us where we need to be in the time frame necessary to avoid dangerous climate change tipping points.  The Liberals propose to start at $10 per tonne, increasing to $40 per tonne.  The GPC proposed $50 per tonne to start.  The Liberals claim our plan is “excessive.”  We say, well, do you want to address climate change or do you want to just talk about it some more?




2. Half of Canada’s emissions come from the largest industrial emitters.  This includes power generation, the cement industry, and the oil & gas companies.  (This is why the GPC also endorses a cap & trade system for these emitters.  This is similar to the Conservatives, except we want actual caps instead of intensity caps, and similar to the NDP except that we admit that the costs will be passed on to the consumer where they seem to be under the illusion that those big fat corporations will just absorb all the costs.) But a great portion of the other half comes from transportation, which is why we do not agree with the Liberal’s exemption for gasoline.




3. Most importantly, suppose for a moment that climate change did not exist.  Do you think that the Liberals would still be proposing this policy?  I think not.  But the GPC would.  Why?  Because we believe in tax shifting, or placing the tax burden on resource use, pollution and waste and decreasing the burden on employment and personal income, as a basic concept of fiscal policy.