Liberals across Canada are terrified of how everyday Canadians will react to Stéphane Dion’s plan to impose a permanent new carbon tax that will jack up the price of gas, electricity and everything else.
Yesterday three Liberal Members of Parliament put distance between themselves and Mr. Dion when they helped pass a motion that Conservative MP’s introduced to “ensure that Canadian farmers are not saddled with a carbon tax which would further increase their costs and hurt their competitiveness.”
These three MPs (Wayne Easter, Omar Alghabra, and Lloyd St. Amand) are the latest examples of senior Liberals breaking ranks with Mr. Dion over the Dion Tax Trick.
Senior Liberal Party pollster Michael Marzolini reportedly “has privately warned Dion that a carbon tax is a risky way to go.” (Canadian Press, May 12, 2008).
Esteemed Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella has warned other Liberals that a carbon tax “is unfair to people on fixed incomes (like the elderly) and the poor (who have to heat their homes and buy food, too)", adding, “not a single voter - not one - will ever be convinced that a government will apply the resulting mountains of revenue to helping the environment.” (http://www.warrenkinsella.com/index.php?entry=entry080515-083509)
And former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin took great pains to avoid endorsing Dion-style carbon taxes during a live interview with CTV News. (http://watch.ctv.ca/news/top-picks/one-on-one-with-martin/#clip60513).
It’s no wonder Mr. Dion has sounded so defensive recently. Not only is he failing to trick Canadians. He can’t even trick members of his own party.
The Dion Tax Trick. Everybody sees through it.