Stephane Dion pitches environmental tax tax tax tax tax.....

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion pitches environmental tax reform in Alberta

John Cotter
Canadian Press

Thursday, January 11, 2007

CREDIT: Ed Kaiser, CanWest News Service
Stephane Dion, liberal leader, speaks in Edmonton.

EDMONTON (CP) — Liberal Leader Stephane Dion wants to green up Alberta’s black gooey oilsands sector with tax cuts for companies that voluntarily reduce their CO2 emissions and use less fresh water.

Dion said such “environmental tax reforms” would make Alberta’s economic boom sustainable for many years to come.

“I will be the best partner they (Alberta) ever saw from Ottawa if I become prime minister because I am committed to help Albertans have sustainable development,” Dion said Thursday during his first swing through the province since winning the Liberal leadership last month.

“If we succeed in making Fort McMurray sustainable, we will succeed everywhere in the word because we will export our new technologies, our know-how, and we will make megatonnes of money with it.”

There are more than $100 billion worth of energy projects either approved or planned in Alberta.

The scope of the activity has prompted some conservationists and community leaders to call for an inquiry into their cumulative impact on people and the environment.

Dion said if the Liberals win the next election his government would review the oil and natural gas tax regime that was developed in the 1990s by the Chretien government that helped enable the current boom.

He said providing incentives for industry and universities to bolster research to deal with the environmental consequences of energy development is the best approach.

But he said a Liberal government would also set strict environmental regulations that would be enforced.

“Demanding, but reasonable, in order to speed up innovation,” he said in an interview.

Dion flatly rejected the idea of a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The oilpatch appeared to respond favourably to Dion’s carrot-not-the-stick approach to environmental tax reform.

Greg Stringham, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said while they want to study Dion’s remarks in more detail, they like his tone.

“This is relatively new that they (the Liberals) would use the incentive mechanism to try and bring out new technologies to address environmental issues,” Stringham said from Calgary.

“I think it is very similar to what we have dealing with the Tory government. Technologies are the answer to resolving a lot of these issues.”

Dion took his environmental tax reform message to the University of Alberta, reiterating his pledge to not proceed with the Conservative’s plan to further cut the GST from six to five per cent.

The former environment minister said the money would be better used to encourage Canadians to buy energy efficient cars, homes and appliances.

Dion said the Tory plan would cost the government $5.5 billion but wouldn’t have a longterm positive impact on Canadians.

The Liberal plan would help change the way people think and act in their daily lives, he said.

“This will help people make the link between their wallet and the planet.”

Dion was to meet with Alberta Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach before attending a townhall meeting in Edmonton Thursday night.

He said they share a bond because they were both dark-horse candidates who came from behind to win their party leaderships on the same day in December.

“We will have a good start because we share something together.”

source for dions load of crap

So dion is calling it a water tax now. This guy is too much.

You can't honestly expect them to pay for kyoto, the indian industry, justice industry, media, golf courses, rip offs, scams and still have a surplus. Do you?
I expect that after Kyoto, Canada as a first world country won't be around much more anyways.

And naturally, we trust the Liberals with tax dollars :roll:

I have a better idea.. Instead of an environmental tax, how about giving a tax break to industries that volontarily lower their gas emissions?