Here’s a fact: the NDP never mentioned their job-killing carbon tax during the 2015 provincial campaign.
There was no reference to the carbon tax in their platform, and they never told Albertans they were going to slam the province that would raise the price of nearly everything: groceries for your family, utility bills to heat your home, and gas to drive your kids to hockey practice.
The NDP’s deception on their carbon tax is not only the biggest tax increase in the history of Alberta, it’s also the biggest political lie told to Albertans.
But it gets worse, on January 1 the NDP will raise their job-killing carbon tax by 50 per cent. Again, the NDP is raising the cost of everything at a time when over 200,000 Albertans are looking for work and Edmonton and Calgary are tied for second for the highest unemployment rates in the country.
So why are the NDP burdening Albertans with higher taxes during a difficult time for our province?
Well, the NDP claims their job-killing carbon tax would provide the so-called “social license” needed to get our much-needed pipelines built. In their mind, opponents to critical energy projects will be persuaded once Albertans are paying more of their own money to the government. Now, the United Conservative Party is absolutely committed to getting pipelines built and our resources to market, but the NDP’s “social license” argument is complete fiction. It’s a lie.
The folks who opposed Alberta’s pipelines before the introduction of the NDP’s carbon tax continue to oppose pipelines after the introduction of the NDP’s carbon tax. The NDP’s carbon tax didn’t persuade the B.C. NDP Premier, John Horgan, who told his government to use “every tool in the toolbox” to stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
The NDP’s carbon tax didn’t stop the City of Burnaby from refusing to issue municipal permits that are necessary to the construction of the Kinder Morgan pipeline. The NDP’s carbon tax also didn’t prevent Trudeau from killing two critical Alberta pipelines: Northern Gateway and Energy East.
According to the NDP, their billion-dollar carbon tax was supposed to move these folks from opponent to supporter. Instead, these same anti-Alberta actors are more motivated than ever to build a wall around our province. Alberta’s NDP government simply lied to Albertans about their carbon tax. This kind of deception is why poll after poll (for whatever polls are worth these days) show massive opposition to this NDP, in general, and their carbon tax, in particular.
To make matters worse, the NDP has committed to raise their carbon tax even further despite the fact that the Trudeau Liberals have used the National Energy Board to kill the Energy East pipeline project, a $16 billion project that would’ve brought Canada ever closer to true energy independence. Now, we know the NDP will not cancel the carbon tax, which is why we’re asking the NDP to cancel the incoming increase of 50 per cent. By cancelling the planned carbon tax increase, Alberta would be sending a message to the federal government that we will not tolerate assaults on our economy.
Alberta used to be a watchdog on Ottawa. Instead, the NDP has become a lap dog to Trudeau.