Conservative Leader Stephen Harper indirectly attacked B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's credibility Monday during a federal election campaign stop in the Lower Mainland where he lambasted carbon taxes as revenue grabs in disguise.
He said that B.C. families are paying more to Victoria through the provincial carbon tax than is being rebated to them – a statement that challenges Mr. Campbell's pledge that the levy will be “revenue neutral.” The Tory Leader also said nobody should believe politicians who say their new taxes are not bids to raise more revenue.
His comments came as his campaign travelled to Richmond, where the Conservatives hope to capture a federal riding in a predominately Chinese-Canadian community that has been a Liberal stronghold for years.
The main target of Mr. Harper's broadside was rival Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and his proposed carbon tax, but this didn't stop him from veering into B.C. politics.
He said that voters shouldn't trust politicians who promise that a tax will be “revenue neutral” – that is, that government will rebate to citizens all the monies collected from such a levy. Mr. Harper said nobody should believe politicians who vow a new tax will be revenue neutral.
“Every politician in history who wants to impose a new tax claims that it's either revenue neutral or it's temporary. It's not true,” he said, adding later: “The reason politicians impose a new tax is they need revenue.”
It's a jab that also applies to Mr. Campbell's government, which has firmly vowed that the British Columbia carbon tax it introduced will be revenue neutral.
Mr. Harper said carbon taxes – typically levied on fossil fuels – end up collecting surplus revenue even if the governments administering them vow to rebate the money collected to taxpayers.
But the Conservative Leader ventured even further into B.C. politics, singling out the Campbell government's recent carbon tax as an example of a levy that is not “revenue neutral.”
“Everybody knows – especially in British Columbia – that that kind of a carbon tax is not revenue neutral on the average working family,” Mr. Harper said.
He said that's why British Columbians are more worried about Mr. Dion's carbon-tax plan than other Canadians.
“For British Columbians, there is a double risk that comes from the carbon tax proposal: imposing a made-in-Ottawa carbon tax on [top of] B.C.'s existing carbon tax. Canadians don't want a new tax and British Columbians don't want double carbon taxation.”
The Conservative Leader's willingness to take shots at the B.C. Premier marks a shift in tone for him.
He's had a good working relationship with Mr. Campbell – some Tories have said it's one of the best Mr. Harper has with premiers – and he's been loath to attack the B.C. government in the past. Mr. Harper even once previously publicly saluted the B.C. carbon tax as a
measure that complemented his government's federal efforts to fight climate change.
The Tories are hoping their Chinese-Canadian candidate Alice Wong will help them wrest away the Richmond seat that has been frequently won by Liberal incumbent Raymond Chan. Mr. Chan won the riding by a 2,505-vote margin in the past election.
But the New Democrats – also a competitive force in B.C. ridings – are working hard to make inroads in the Lower Mainland.
Mr. Harper paused Monday from his attack on Mr. Dion to take a swipe at the NDP, accusing them of voting in lockstep with the Liberals against three years of Tory tax cuts that he said have benefited families.
“I watched as the NDP in Ottawa voted against cutting the goods and services tax – not once, but twice. I watched as they voted against establishing the $1,200 child care benefit that gives parents $100 a month towards raising their child,” Mr. Harper said.
“British Columbians know you can't have it both ways. You can't talk the talk with families out here in B.C. and then walk the same walk as the Liberals in Ottawa and claim you are different.”
Ms. Wong, a businesswoman who immigrated to Canada about a quarter century ago, said she doesn't think Mr. Harper's refusal to attend to the Beijing Olympics will hurt his standing with Chinese-Canadian voters. She said China is not upset about this.
“Even the Chinese government has really said that this was not a political conference so they are all right that the Prime Minister did not go.”
