April 10, 2009
As part of her high-deficit, high-spending, low-credibility "plank" presented to voters yesterday, Carole James stated that if elected she would eliminate the tax on carbon emissions claiming that it would stimulate the economy and cut taxes.
Setting aside the fact that she understated the true cost of that commitment by $500 million in her fiscal plan, she also neglected to mention that her fiscal plan calls for over $1 billion in NEW taxes to be levied on British Columbians. This includes a $400-million tax on the oil and gas industry, a $75-million tax on clean energy, and reinstating the job-killing corporate capital tax worth $185 million. She also buries in the back of her document a mysterious $250-million "GHG emission pricing" tax that she refuses to define. And these are just the new taxes they’re admitting publicly.
Moreover, she has recanted on her past promises to permanently cut taxes for small business, instead offering a short-term "tax holiday" for small business that would quickly expire. At the same time, she would impose new wage policies that will increase small business costs by up to 30 per cent next year. As well, new NDP commitments to scrap employment standards and increase WorkSafeBC benefits could mean even higher costs for small business.
Carole James' measures equal new taxes on jobs, taxes on investment, taxes on opportunity, and yes, many are actually new, hidden taxes on carbon. And all of them will result in fewer jobs and lower wages for families who work in our rural industries.
In short, Carole James has released a tax-hiking platform, not a tax-cutting platform. It’s families who will pay the price through lost jobs and lost opportunities, because Carole James cares more about scoring political points with climate change rhetoric than making responsible choices.
To quote Ian Bruce from the Suzuki Foundation, Carole James' proposed tax policies "are a major step in the wrong direction for action on climate change." (Vancouver Sun, April 10/09). The BC Liberal plan is what's needed if we want to reverse the impacts on climate change, and it is part of our plan to grow jobs and opportunities in our province.
Carole James' approach is reckless, it's irresponsible, and it's patently dishonest. In 1991 the NDP asked British Columbians to trust them not to raise taxes – and they were betrayed. That can't happen again.
