Last week in the Legislature under the leadership of United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney, Albertans learned that their government has no definitive ceiling in mind for the carbon tax.
Taking true leadership by seeking definitive answers, Kenney proposed legislation that would prevent any further carbon tax hikes without the approval of Albertans through a referendum vote.
Similar to Ralph Klein’s approach on a provincial sales tax, Kenney wants Albertans to determine their own economic future in a democratic fashion.
Kenney tried to make the Premier and ministers come clean about future plans to further raise their job-killing carbon tax.
Similar to the approach the NDP used shortly after being elected in 2015, they’ve chosen not to include Albertans in the decision to implement new taxes or new tax strategies.
United Conservatives are committed to holding the government to account and protecting Albertans’ best interests.
It is imperative that to fulfill our role as advocates for Albertans, we dig deep to determine where the government is headed and to keep Albertans properly informed of the government’s intentions.
Prior to being elected, the NDP did not disclose their true intentions of creating a tax on everything by way of the carbon tax.
It even appears that their own party faithful were painfully unaware of their intent. Now when asked in the Legislature, they have no intentions of disclosing how high they intend on taking their economically unsound plan for Alberta’s future.
The real issue with this government comes down to trust.
What a government says is just as important as what it doesn’t say.
Not disclosing or otherwise intentionally omitting details creates an atmosphere of mistrust and that’s just how constituents of Drumheller-Stettler who I have spoken to are feeling about the carbon tax and the NDP’s failed social license.
It’s also troubling that when pressed for answers into the allocation of the funds collected and how the NDP Government has reduced Alberta’s carbon output, there is little to no information disclosed.
In search of more answers, Calgary Foothills MLA and Energy Critic, Prasad Panda asked, “How much is the government paying to the Balancing Pool to cover the purchase of these carbon offset credits? What’s the secret number?” (Hansard March 12th, 2018)
The rhetoric coming from the government side of the Legislature on their carbon tax and failed social license inevitably ends with accusations of “climate denial” that is a “dead-end for Alberta.” (Hansard March 12th, 2018).
Albertans are quickly realizing that the only dead-end is taxation plans that scare away investors and jobs, and create consequences for those who can least afford it.
Albertans deserve better, they deserve full disclosure about where their government is going prior to being elected. Anything short of that is just broken trust.