Wes Taylor
MLA Battle River-Wainwright
Let me begin by wishing you all a Happy New Year, at least as happy as one can expect. I cannot go anywhere and not have someone stop me and tell me his or her disappointment with the Carbon Tax.
Jan. 1 saw the imposition of the second increase to the Carbon Tax – an increase of 50 per cent. Two thirds of Albertans are opposed to this job killing tax; I count myself among that number. Let us not forget that the Federal Government has their hand out too because the Carbon Tax has GST attached to it. Consequently, we have a tax on a tax.
What does that mean? Well it is now $1.517 for natural gas, 6.73 cents per litre for gas, 8.03 per litre for diesel and propane is 4.62 cents per litre.
I have been talking with towns and municipalities about the increase and it is costly to them. For example, the carbon tax in Wainwright will cost them $1.5 million dollars, they can only roll back services or products that they offer just so much and then they have to pass this along to the average household and business.
What does the UCP party say about this tax? Well as the MLA for Battle-River Wainwright and with the drop of the writ for the next election when this area will then be Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright, I can clearly say that we are completely opposed to this tax. Providing the UCP is elected to government in 2019, we are committed to repealing the carbon tax in 2019, regardless of what conditions the federal government may impose.
I am opposed to paying more taxes for no good reason – the NDPs social licence ruse was been fully exposed with the failure of approval for Kinder Morgan, Energy East and Northern gateway pipeline projects.
The NDP’s ideological policies have made life for our job-creators far more difficult with more red tape and increased costs to run a small business. The unintended consequence of these policies? The destruction of the Alberta Advantage and jobs.
Among my many responses to the many disappointed individuals I mentioned above is the question “who voted for this tax”? The answer is, of course, simply no one. The NDP did not campaign or have it in their platform a plan to introduce a Carbon Tax. Indeed, it was not discussed during the 2015 campaign. That is why I call it the biggest lie in Alberta political history.
On a serious note, it is estimated that at least $34.8 billion in investment fled the oilsands sector alone. In turn, the Carbon Tax has effects on all sectors of Alberta’s economy, because the tax applies to every type of economic transaction in the province.
There are now over 200,000 Albertans looking for work. Both Calgary and Edmonton tie for second place for the highest unemployment rates in Canada.
Of course, we must be environmentally responsible. However, this tax achieves nothing other than to force everyone to pay more for everything. This, of course, hits the poorest among us the hardest.
This is unacceptable.
Oh, I almost forgot, Happy 2018.