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Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is changing his controversial carbon tax plan on the eve of an expected election campaign amid pressure from his caucus members.
The policy will now incorporate breaks for farmers, truckers and fishermen in the form of subsidies to help buy equipment to reduce use of diesel fuel.
Mr. Dion will announce the changes in his plan regarding the farming sector today in Winnipeg, where he is attending his national caucus summer retreat. The subsidies to the other sectors will be announced later, sources said.
Liberal MPs, especially those from the Atlantic, had been pressing him to include cash rebates or complete exemptions for these sectors because of the high costs of diesel fuel. But Mr. Dion dug in his heels, according to a Liberal insider, believing it would weaken his plan. Instead, he decided upon this compromise.
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Liberal MPs began trickling into Winnipeg yesterday for what was to be their annual summer caucus session but is quickly turning into a pre-election meeting. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to call the election later this week.
At a town hall meeting last night in Winnipeg, Mr. Dion outlined his Green Shift plan to more than 500 people in the mostly partisan crowd, referring to the Prime Minister as a “dinosaur” for attacking his plan.
He had told reporters earlier in the day that he planned to run a high-road, but rigorous, campaign.
And while many Liberal MPs yesterday said they were ready to fight the Harper Tories on the environment and the economy, some caucus members fear their main policy piece – the Green Shift plan – is not catching on among Canadians despite a summer of campaigning on it.
“We haven't done a good job selling it,” said one veteran Liberal MP. “And we've only been winning people over one at a time, a pretty time-consuming endeavour.”
For the past two weeks, the Liberal platform committee – MPs Bob Rae, Scott Brison and Dominic LeBlanc – along with the leader's staff, have worked to address the concerns of farmers, truckers and fishermen.
The Liberal insider said that Mr. Dion absolutely rejected suggestions of an exemption or cash rebate to the three sectors, arguing that it would considerably weaken his plan.
“A cash rebate doesn't give you the incentive to reduce,” the insider said. “If you can buy equipment, new technologies in your engine and other things that will help you reduce your consumption, that will bring your cost down.
“There are some very specific examples ... of equipment that can greatly reduce over the long run your consumption of diesel ... So if you just give somebody a cheque to offset the price increase, you really haven't altered the behaviour.”
And PEI Liberal MP Wayne Easter, the opposition agriculture critic, who had criticized the plan and its treatment of farmers, yesterday called the proposals for change a “major improvement.” He said it balances out the costs for farmers.
Asked after the town hall meeting whether he is afraid of losing his job in this election, Mr. Dion replied that the Liberals have to win this election to prevent other people from losing their jobs.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dion arrived in Winnipeg yesterday afternoon with his new candidate for the Regina riding of Palliser, former Regina police chief Calvin Johnston. He had been in Regina earlier in the day to introduce Mr. Johnston, considered a star candidate for the Liberal team.
Meeting with reporters later, the Liberal Leader said the changes to his environment plan are the result of touring the country over the summer and listening to the concerns of Canadians.
The Liberals promise that the Green Shift would be revenue neutral, taxing carbon fuels but returning the money to Canadians through rebates and tax cuts.
The plan, which was introduced in June, also has a $1-billion reserve for unforeseen changes. That contingency fund would be used to help the farming, fishing and trucking sectors.
“It was a dialogue. It was not only a one-way-street dialogue. Indeed you will see ... the plan will be stronger for the environment, stronger for agriculture,” Mr. Dion said.
Not only are Liberal MPs worried about the plan, the Tories are having a great time characterizing it as a massive tax hike and tax grab.
Yesterday, Jason Kenney, a junior Harper cabinet minister who often takes the role of attack dog, went after the plan once again.
Mr. Dion countered to reporters that his party would not go negative with “low-blow attack ads and lies,” saying that Mr. Kenney never mentioned that the Green Shift plan would include tax cuts.
“Yes, you have a carbon tax, but all the money goes to tax cuts. So a question for him and for Mr. Harper: Which tax cuts in the Green Shift do they dislike? The one we give for families? The one we give for industry? ... Which tax cuts do they dislike?”
