To the editor:
Another week, another rant by MP Dan Albas against the carbon tax.
Mr. Albas—and indeed his Conservative Party —seems to think that the only issue to consider is the alleged short-term costs of the carbon tax. Not once does it seem to occur to him or his party of “no to everything,” that we should be very concerned about catastrophic future costs of ignoring the climate not just for Canadians but for our planet. The Conservative mantra ignores the concept that provincial governments should return funds received through the carbon tax to taxpayers.
And contrary to Mr. Albas’ assertions, the BC carbon tax is one that has proven to be an effective measure in reducing greenhouse gases.
Mr. Albas and his party pretend that Canada’s contribution to global climate change is insignificant, when the fact is that on a per capita basis Canadians are among the top five emitors of greenhouse gases in the world.
Mr. Albas likes to conclude his weekly columns by posing a rhetorical question. Let me pose a couple of questions to him and his Conservative party.
Are you and is your party now among the minority of Canadians who are climate change deniers?
If your answer is no, would you please explain to your readers—and Canadians—precisely what measures a Conservative Government led by Andrew Scheer would undertake to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level set by the Harper Government and reaffirmed by the Liberal Government? Do you have any concrete proposals to put forward that would be at least as effective as the carbon tax?
From the posturing, it appears that the Conservative intention, if it were to form the next government, would be to pretend to believe in Climate Change, reaffirm the Harper targets and then, like Harper, do absolutely nothing whatsoever to reach these targets.
Barbara Bailey,
Kelowna