Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Liberals announced their carbon tax plan, which can only be characterized as a won't get it done plan.
As the British Columbia minister of the environment said, “They really are not actually taking the bull by the horns”. As Dave Martin of Greenpeace said, “In our view, the [Liberal] plan really doesn't go far enough”
There are so many things wrong with this plan that it is hard to know where to start, but here are two. First, it has absolutely no targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it does not even mention Kyoto. Second, there are no measures to encourage Canadians to embrace renewable energy.
All this plan would do is make Canadians, especially northerners and rural people, pay more, while large corporations continue business as usual.
This summer the NDP will be consulting with Canadians on how to best move forward with renewable energy. After listening to this, we will be putting forward a plan which would move Canada quickly toward a more renewable energy future, provide energy security, create new green collar jobs and, combined with our cap and trade plan, take real action to reduce greenhouse gases.