April 2015
I guess we should have seen it coming. Well, in fact, I did see it coming. When oil prices plunged the good news for people who drive was that they were going to be saving money at the pumps relative to the peak prices we had been experiencing.
The bad news is Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals saw this as a golden opportunity to extract more money from your pockets for every litre you have burned. You see the Liberal Government passed cap and trade legislation back in 2009. Having witnessed the disastrous federal election for the Liberal Party under Stéphane Dion they decided not to move ahead. With a minority government elected in 2011 the issue was a non-starter. However, once Ms. Wynne won a majority in 2014, the question was not if, but when she would move on cap and trade, or what I prefer to call “pay to pollute” legislation.
Basically, the way it works is the government sets a cap on the amount of emissions that a company can produce. If they want to produce more, then they have to buy carbon credits from other companies that are burning less than they are allowed. In theory, when it was envisioned cap and trade was supposed to act as an incentive for companies to reduce Co2 emissions. In reality, through the purchase of credits, polluters simply pay more for the right to produce more carbon dioxide emissions.
The experience in Europe has seen actual emissions rise under their cap and trade system. So if the goal was to reduce carbon emissions it would have to be considered a complete failure.
Here is the reason I believe the Wynne government has adopted this scheme. It has absolutely nothing to do with reducing Co2 emissions. It has everything to do with generating more revenue for a government that has put us on the verge of bankruptcy.
The cap and trade scheme is forecasted to raise about $2 billion a year. We all know that if business is paying $2 billion more per year for carbon credits they will pass that cost onto you, the consumer. In Liberal math it is perfect, they get $2 billion without raising taxes and the consumer picks up the tab.
They claim it is going to raise the price of gasoline by about 3 cents a litre. My experience, and I’m sure yours too, is this: in the past when the Liberals have said that something will cost you nothing there is a cost, and when they say it will cost you a little it inevitably costs you a lot. We need only to look at what has happened with our hydro bills over the past several years.
Speaking of electricity, as I am writing this column we are waiting for the release of Ed Clark’s report concerning the sale of public assets. Look for the province to go ahead with the selling of the majority of Hydro One.
We will continue to follow this closely holding them to account and doing our best to ensure that you get fair value for any asset sold. We will also endeavour to ensure that the government directs the proceeds of any sale in an appropriate manner.
On April 14th, the government announced that the budget will be tabled on April 23rd. We should have a better picture by then of what the government’s plans are with respect to tackling the deficit that they have created and how it will impact you. Stay tuned.
