Carbon tax needs work
Re: “B.C.’s carbon tax is a complete fraud” July 7-13
In making his case against the carbon tax, Mr. Kieran misrepresents public polling research about British Columbian’s perspectives on the carbon tax. The Pembina Institute commissioned that poll, and readers deserve a more balanced presentation of its findings.
While British Columbians clearly aren’t out in the streets celebrating the carbon tax (or any tax for that matter), the public poll results indicate a reasonable degree of support for carbon taxes. British Columbians ranked carbon taxes as their second most preferred way for government to raise tax revenue – behind corporate taxes, but ahead of sales taxes, property taxes and personal income taxes. The poll also found 33 per cent of participants believe the carbon tax has had positive consequences for the province, with a further 41 per cent seeing neutral consequences to date, leaving only 26 per cent in the “negative” camp.
None of this is to say that British Columbians believe the carbon tax is perfect. For example, about half of those polled would support using new carbon tax revenue to pay for health care, education and green projects. So instead of repealing the carbon tax, as Mr. Kieran suggests, let’s have a constructive dialogue about how we can make it fairer and more effective. The full results are available on our website (www.pembina.org/pub/2233).
Matt Horne, Director of B.C. Energy Solutions at the Pembina Institute Vancouver