Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Canadian Election: Carbon Tax Cost Liberals Votes

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Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has lost the Canadian election: “The owlish professor-turned-politician defied two central political tenets in this election campaign: avoid overly complex policy and, above all, don’t even suggest new taxes.  His beloved ‘Green Shift’ attempt to tax pollution was lauded by environmentalists and 250 economists.  But on the campaign trail, it became more of a Green Albatross around Dion’s slender neck, forcing him over and over again in the face of a Tory advertising onslaught to stress that any new levies on polluting fossil fuels would be offset by income tax breaks.  In the end, Dion’s impassioned calls for voters to “go green vote red” weren’t enough. While the Conservatives were held to a minority government, the Liberals were leading or elected in just 74 seats, down from the 103 claimed in 2006.”  Read more here.

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  1. Mark says

    It is expected that Dion will announce his resignation today as leader of the Liberals. Thank God! Don’t expect his successor to go anywhere near a carbon tax or general climate hysteria for that matter. We are not likely to see another election here in Canada for at least another 2 years despite the continuing Conservative minority position. By that time, we can only hope that after another 2 years of non-warming or further cooling, the mainstream media will eventually come round to announcing that the climate emperor has no clothes!

  2. Gordon Robertson says

    Mark “Don’t expect his successor to go anywhere near a carbon tax or general climate hysteria for that matter”.

    Unless it’s Bob ‘Judas’ Rae. For anyone unfamiliar with Canadian politics, he’s a former (turncoat) NDP party provincial premier who joined the Liberals. The NDP were proud to call themselves a socialist party at one time, being the driver of Canada’s national health plan (Medicare), but are now lost in the political wilderness as ‘social democrats’. They prefer homosexual rights and affirmative action to the unions who were their backbone for many years. In other words, they are lead by Yuppies from the university disciplines like political science and social work.

    I don’t think anyone really knows what the NDP stand for anymore since they have been cow-towing for votes in any way they can. Bob Rae was a grand poobah in the NDP and I can’t imagine how he now fits in as a Liberal.

    Anyway, Rae is still a contender for the Liberal leadership, for reasons known only to those who support him. If he gets in, heaven forbid, the carbon taxes will no doubt be back on line.