Saw the Premier’s press conference this morning and felt disappointed.
I, on principle, am against donating to political parties. So I decided to take some action by donating to charities (and at the same time sending an eCard to my MPP).
Hi Mr.Anand, I would like to thank Premier Ford and the Ontario PCs for bringing the carbon tax to Ontario by cancelling the Cap and Trade program in 2018. The carbon tax that was held as constitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada. I am donating to Gen Squeeze (832390199RR0001) and the Greenbelt Foundation (822521878RR0001) as a result of the maligned press conference hosted by the Premier on April 2, 2024. Sincerely, *****, an active constituent from Mississauga-Malton.
On March 26th, 2024, 300+ leading Canadian Economists signed an open letter on carbon pricing.
the most vocal opponents of carbon pricing are not offering alternative policies to reduce emissions and meet our climate goals. And they certainly aren’t offering any alternatives that would reduce emissions at the same low cost as carbon pricing.
Why doesn’t that letter saying anything about how the middle and lower classes are disproportionately affected by such taxes?
Let me guess, these “leading economists” are all filthy rich themselves.
Do you have evidence that the carbon pricing scheme as implemented disproportionately affects the middle/lower class? I would legitimately like to know. Keep in mind that while it’s often referred to as the carbon tax, there is also the carbon tax rebate that goes hand in hand with the implementation. The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) did an analysis and found the following:
Relative to disposable income, our estimates of household net carbon costs continue to show a progressive impact that is, larger net costs for higher income households.
As for the wealth of the economists that signed the letter, unless there is evidence of such, please don’t make claims you have not substantiated. I look forward to healthy, civil discussion.
Aren’t corporations exempt from the tax and allowed to buy carbon credits at a much lower price instead? And aren’t entire industries exempt, like agriculture (the single largest generator of carbon emissions in Canada)?
And don’t those rebates for the carbon tax stop at just $61k income for an individual? Thats barely enough to buy a 50 year old trailer in BC (and you don’t own the land it’s on) last I checked. Considering the cost of living I’m sure that “low income” cutoff is way too low.
All that amounts to middle class people who are barely making their mortgage payments paying more than corporate giants are.
When you measure tax contributions as a percentage of total wealth, corporations and ultra rich always pay less than everyone else.
Under the current carbon pricing scheme, there is no such thing as purchasing of carbon credits. This might be the case under a cap and trade system, which currently only exist in places like Quebec and California (and formerly Ontario). Additionally, if corporations were exempt, there would be no need to buy carbon credits.
There are special areas such as home heating where there is a temporary hiatus on the carbon pricing.
The carbon tax rebates apply uniformly. But remember that carbon pricing punishes those who heavily rely on carbon based fuels (e.g. people with multiple vehicles, homes, etc).
Carbon pricing is not intended to redistribute wealth. So the point about the upper class paying a lesser percentage of their wealth is not relevant and we also don’t have evidence of this.
sigh
Carbon Taxes work, and have been demonstrated to work multiple times
The point of them is to change dirty products to cost their real amount.
Without a carbon tax, dirty fuels and a very cheap, and absolutely dirty products can be cheap. Whereas, you are actually adding the real cost to them, which makes clean, efficient products cheaper and affordable by the lower class
All it does is attach the real cost to everything.
You know what REALLY affects middle and lower classes? 2 degree rise in temperature.
I know that because I was a tradie for 10 years for high end clients, and some of them live in 5 story mansions with triple glazed windows, concrete, and $70,000 high-efficiency aircon systems. They save money there, but, they spend heaps of money on stupid shit they should be charged extra for (and likely will with a carbon tax).
These guys won’t even notice global warming. You and I will.
I never disputed carbon taxes work, you dong dong.
I just think the middle class shouldn’t be footing the bill for it while the billionaires have 12 mansions.
Don’t you think the people who have the most wealth and the most power should also be taking the most responsibility?
