Sir: The wait is over to uncover the next of Premier Wynne’s “revenue tools.” She plans to implement a carbon tax. Not that this will do anything for the environment, but it will provide a slush fund from which to pay for the next provincial Liberal boondoggle, perhaps version 2.0 of the smart meters to replace the existing smart meters which have been known to cause house fires.
In any event, it is politically correct, already marketed by Al Gore, David Suzuki and others, the cost of gasoline at the pumps is down, and maybe she thinks the general populace will not notice.
There are two avenues open to her for a carbon tax. She can just put a flat tax on anything associated with carbon, which is really obvious, or she can implement the famous cap-and-trade model. If you go to a site like Environmental Defense and read their explanation of cap-and-trade with its exchanges and auctions by governments, etc., it can make for some heavy reading, not easily understood. So, I am providing here an analogy which will make cap-and-trade very easy to understand.
I am walking down King Street with my aging golden retriever Lucy, when she is caught short and must answer a call of nature. In the absence of any grass, she relieves herself on the sidewalk. Now I am caught short, because I have nothing with me with which to pick up her poop. However, I am a “with it” guy and immediately call a friend who lives on the east coast, who also owns a golden retriever.
“Fred,” I ask, “have you walked your dog down the main street of Halifax today?” “Yes” he replies. “Did he by any chance poop on the sidewalk?” I ask. “Yes,” he says, “twice.” “Did you pick it up?” I ask. “Of course” he responds. “Can I buy one of your poop pickups from you?” I ask. “Sure” he answers and gives me his PayPal account information. I transfer $5 from my PayPal account to his, and then walk on merrily down King Street with my dog.
To the other pedestrians who glare at me, my dog and the pile of dog feces on the sidewalk, I say: “Don’t worry, that really does not exist. I purchased a dog poop offset.”
David Goldsmith
Chatham
