Comments on: Remember when the Carbon Tax ruined BC?

By: Aden

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:14:10 +0000

Thanks for the post, Ian

While the BC Carbon Tax isn’t exorbitant, and likely isn’t sufficient to make a short-term impact on GHG emissions, it is an interesting first step, one that the rest of Canada appears afraid to take.
This is actually a beautiful illustration of the advantage of federal state with strong sub-national units, as opposed to a centralised state (Britain, France) or a federal state with relatively weak sub-national units (the US). In Canada, when everything is working ideally (which it usually isn’t), provinces can work as policy test cases. The smaller scale allows strong premiers to pioneer and improve a new policy for their province, with the other premiers watching to see if it succeeds or fails. If it works, it can be used to fight down opposed vested interests which are strongest fighting an untested policy change. The best case of this is healthcare in Saskatchewan, which required a monumental fight for Tommy Douglas, but was so successful that it was soon implemented across Canada.
As a big fan of the carbon tax, I thank Gordon Campbell. Now we have to start working on Alberta.

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By: Curtis

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:03:59 +0000

lol Denny. Have you ever used public transit in Kelowna? In a lot cases it’s faster to walk to your destrination than to wait for a bus. Most Kelowna residents agree that the transit system here is pathetic. That’s why our roads are full of cars with only one passenger.

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By: Denny

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:18:41 +0000

I don’t think the BCNDP’s objections to the carbon tax were to the concept of a carbon tax, but to how the tax was going to be applied, and who would be paying it.
For example, on the surface it seems like a great idea to say “we’re going to put a carbon tax on fuel to penalize people who drive vehicles rather than use transit, then invest some of that money into improving transit.” It’s really great if you live in the lower mainland, Victoria, Prince George or Kelowna, where you can actually take transit, but it’s not so good for people in the rest of the province, who have no choice but to have a vehicle.

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