MLA Report Jan 12

Hello Chestermere! Happy “Carbon Tax”—oh, I mean “New Year” everyone. We are in month 20 of this NDP Government and it has been a rollercoaster ride my friends. We are going to continue to update you on the reaction and fallout of the Carbon Tax but we are fairly sure based on your emails to our office that the Carbon Tax was not part of your New Year’s resolutions. I would like to take a moment to reflect on some of the myths that continue to be perpetuated by climate change activists, and the actual results of what this Carbon Tax does to this province, Canada, and our ability to be competitive in the global market. The Minister Responsible for Climate Change is definitely that, but the climate she has altered has nothing to do with GHG’s. It has to do with the morale and vitality of this province and its energy sector. The climate to invest, to trust, and to innovate has been hampered by a government that refuses to see the damage it is creating and refuses to acknowledge the amazing environmental stewardship that should be Alberta and Canada’s calling card. Part of the problem comes from the fact that we see so many confusing and contradictory reports on those claiming to support the Carbon Tax, and those it will impact. The truth is that our provincial leaders are the ones who started this Carbon Tax fiasco, and now the entire country will pay the price literally to supposedly give us the right to sell our clean already green products on the global market. I’m sure you are having a hard time avoiding the multi-million dollar advertisements telling you about how great this program will be. I hope you feel your money is being well spent.
We always hear about how we needed to erase any doubt about our environmental record. I would love to find out where exactly it was we dropped the ball. Perhaps it was the death of 500 ducks in the tailings ponds and at the time this tragedy happened the government of the day did not take the opportunity to show that it was working to make sure that nothing like it would ever happen again. What I do know is that the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cenovus and the CEO of Suncor both stood up on the stage with the Environment Minister to ring in the Carbon Tax. The reason is simple. It is easy to support a tax you don’t have to pay. Taxes on corporations are simply passed on to their customers. It’s nice to see the Government adopting the Wildrose suggestion to reduce taxes on small business but that does not begin to cover the costs they will have to pass on to you. Make no mistake, the Carbon Tax comes out of your pocket. How is innovation and efficiency supposed to happen in an economic environment like we find ourselves in presently? Seniors and fixed income individuals will be impacted. Charities, Recreation Centres, schools, and everyday Albertans will be paying for this government’s green games. The most deceptive part of this tax is the promise that it will reduce GHG’s and the carbon footprint. This is not true, and in fact makes almost no difference at all. The president of the Canadian Association for Petroleum Producers said: “We developed the technology to get the oil out of the sand — and we are just as committed to getting our carbon out of the air.” There are incredible technologies that are springing up all over the place to reduce emissions, turn them into value added products, and in many cases use them to enhance recovery from our oilfields. This however is not the Government’s agenda, as was made obvious by the insensitive comments made by our Environment Minister that our “province is still standing” a day after the Carbon Tax was put into effect. I guess any damage to our economy short of complete destruction is acceptable to this Government.
Pipelines were built long before there were carbon taxes and these pieces of national infrastructure should be built based on science, research, economics, outreach and technical expertise. The Carbon Tax is a tax on everything, and will not reduce GHGs and will not slow climate change. What it will do is subsidize this NDP Government’s reckless spending habits. Stay strong Alberta, we have your back. As always we love to hear from you.