Liberal Leader Stephane Dion will face a formidable challenger these
next few days and its name isn’t Stephen, Jack or Elizabeth.
Nope, it’s Ike, the deadly hurricane that wreaked havoc on the Texas coastline.
The storm has sent residents fleeing and caused much hand-wringing among motorists forced to swallow exorbitant gas prices.
If
you’re Dion and the cornerstone of your election platform is a suddenly
seldom-discussed carbon tax plan, to say the timing stinks would be an
understatement.
This misguided plan to impose a carbon tax on
greenhouse gas emitters assumes corporations will pass along costs of
the tax to consumers.
And to help consumers and companies cover
the cost, the Liberals would use their carbon-tax revenue to cut
personal and corporate income tax.
But for Mr. Dion, no good deed goes unpunished.
The average consumer doesn’t grasp the plan, despite a shared consensus we would all pay more for things like gas.
I’m
sure the Liberal leader didn’t miss the collective groan of Canadians
paying $1.35 to $1.50 per litre to fuel up these past few days.
He was in Newfoundland today talking about fisheries investments while drivers there are paying about $1.49 per litre for fuel.
But the Grits’ Green Shift is past the point of no return now.
Their critics dismissed changes to the plan earlier this month as a watering down of the document.
How can you make a serious bid to lead the country when you propose a radical tax shift, then act as though you’ve disowned it?