Mills Bomb
Jr. Member
- Reaction score
- 125
- Points
- 580
I've been following this story, so far my observations have been;
Under the Liberal plan they are saying that they plan to put a $40 price on carbon, that will increase to $50 next year, and will only stop when it hits $170 in 2030.
It seems as if this plan will most be most hurtful for low income Canadians and students as these taxes will not only inflate the price of gas to European levels but will also surely inflate the price of common groceries, shipping, and everything else that currently requires fuel to be transported. Probably not a big deal for the wealthy and higher end of the middle class who will likely just pay a little more and keep doing whatever they're doing without caring much about it. I could see this maybe causing our lowest income members of society to possibly do some carpooling if they're short on money for gas, or maybe it will also cause the poorest Canadians to cancel on some trips and vacations they can no longer afford? I'm not really sure how else a little inflation and extra tax will actually restrict carbon use of anyone who's not financially struggling.
In exchange for this plan, the Liberal's are saying we'll get "90%" back in the form rebates that will be same for all Canadians regardless of income, which we can all use for whatever we want, including gas for our cars or to offset the inflation. That is of course assuming the Liberal's actually give us 90% back in rebates, if not, it would seem it's just more tax.
Under the Conservative plan O'Toole wants to put a $50 price cap on carbon, so we'll likely still see some minor inflation with them as well, but not to the $170 price on carbon levels.
In exchange for this, the Conservatives are saying we'll get "100%" of the money (which they insist is not a tax) back in a loyalty program, but the only thing we can spend that money on is green stuff, for example; bikes or public transportation. This could actually reduce some carbon usage, if everyone has all these credits sitting around for green initiative type stuff they might be likely to use it on a new bike or some free bus rides. Not terribly helpful for the poorest Canadians either though, but at least there could be in theory less inflation and gas will be some sort of reasonably affordable with the $50 cap for those with low income.
Some critics of the Conservative plan are saying they are rewarding people for using carbon, but that seems a bit ridiculous if the only reward is green stuff that actually reduces the carbon footprint. If you're rewarded for driving, with a bike you can use instead of driving, that to me seems like a carbon friendly reward that will reduce polluting which seems to somewhat offset this type of criticism.
For those of us who are relatively well off I don't think either of these plans will really effect us much either way or save the planet, for example both are just leading to more inflation for Canadians including CAF members that will likely be off-set by federal pay raises. I don't think we'll see big trucks and sports cars leaving the parking lots anytime soon. Both plans seem to attempt to satisfy green minded voters with minimal effort, the Conservative plan seemingly to make slightly more sense for the environment (I think?).
Curious to hear more opinions on this one, a lot remains to be seen...
Under the Liberal plan they are saying that they plan to put a $40 price on carbon, that will increase to $50 next year, and will only stop when it hits $170 in 2030.
It seems as if this plan will most be most hurtful for low income Canadians and students as these taxes will not only inflate the price of gas to European levels but will also surely inflate the price of common groceries, shipping, and everything else that currently requires fuel to be transported. Probably not a big deal for the wealthy and higher end of the middle class who will likely just pay a little more and keep doing whatever they're doing without caring much about it. I could see this maybe causing our lowest income members of society to possibly do some carpooling if they're short on money for gas, or maybe it will also cause the poorest Canadians to cancel on some trips and vacations they can no longer afford? I'm not really sure how else a little inflation and extra tax will actually restrict carbon use of anyone who's not financially struggling.
In exchange for this plan, the Liberal's are saying we'll get "90%" back in the form rebates that will be same for all Canadians regardless of income, which we can all use for whatever we want, including gas for our cars or to offset the inflation. That is of course assuming the Liberal's actually give us 90% back in rebates, if not, it would seem it's just more tax.
Under the Conservative plan O'Toole wants to put a $50 price cap on carbon, so we'll likely still see some minor inflation with them as well, but not to the $170 price on carbon levels.
In exchange for this, the Conservatives are saying we'll get "100%" of the money (which they insist is not a tax) back in a loyalty program, but the only thing we can spend that money on is green stuff, for example; bikes or public transportation. This could actually reduce some carbon usage, if everyone has all these credits sitting around for green initiative type stuff they might be likely to use it on a new bike or some free bus rides. Not terribly helpful for the poorest Canadians either though, but at least there could be in theory less inflation and gas will be some sort of reasonably affordable with the $50 cap for those with low income.
Some critics of the Conservative plan are saying they are rewarding people for using carbon, but that seems a bit ridiculous if the only reward is green stuff that actually reduces the carbon footprint. If you're rewarded for driving, with a bike you can use instead of driving, that to me seems like a carbon friendly reward that will reduce polluting which seems to somewhat offset this type of criticism.
For those of us who are relatively well off I don't think either of these plans will really effect us much either way or save the planet, for example both are just leading to more inflation for Canadians including CAF members that will likely be off-set by federal pay raises. I don't think we'll see big trucks and sports cars leaving the parking lots anytime soon. Both plans seem to attempt to satisfy green minded voters with minimal effort, the Conservative plan seemingly to make slightly more sense for the environment (I think?).
Curious to hear more opinions on this one, a lot remains to be seen...
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