Angry in the Great White North

Elizabeth May wants Canadians to pay more for gas:

The Green party wants Canadian drivers to pay an extra 12 cents a litre at the gas pumps as the price of averting environmental "catastrophe."

Leader Elizabeth May is boasting that her party is the only one politically brave enough to call for carbon taxes that would discourage automobile use and finance other tax cuts that would allow consumers to make smarter environmental choices.

"Right now, the Green Party of Canada is the only Canadian political party prepared to state this obvious reality," May said yesterday. "We will use those carbon taxes to reduce taxes elsewhere."

Stephane Dion also believes Canadians pay far too little for gas (Montreal Gazette, August 24, 2005):

Canadians and many of his own colleagues might be cringing when they see the price at the pumps these days, but high gas prices are actually good for Canada in the medium and long term, said federal Environment Minister Stephane Dion.

Gas for cars is one of those inelastic expenses. By far most of the gas I burn is to get to work and back. In fact, we drive the car for little else except food shopping, another necessity, in large part because gas prices are already so high. We very deliberately plan any car travel for anything that is not absolutely necessary (an evening out to see a movie, for example) because of the cost of gas.

For a lot of middle class Canadians, that is true, and our economy suffers for it.

But according to Elizabeth May and Stephane Dion, we aren't suffering enough. Too many Canadians, more affluent than me, are still driving their cars too much.

So add another 10% or 20% to the price of gas, and draw down the amount of mileage driven by Canadians another 5% or 10%. Notice that I suspect that large increases in the price of gas do not create equally large decreases in gas usage. Why? Because gas consumption is inelastic. My house is here. My job is there. I tried to find a house large enough for my family that I could afford to rent as close as possible to work, and that turned out to be a fifteen minute drive. So every day I drive a half hour, to work and back. We already took out a car loan to buy a new car that was as fuel efficient as we could afford. Elizabeth May and Stephane Dion can crank up the gas price, but it won't stop me from driving. I don't have a choice. What I do have is a choice on clothes for the kids (more hand-me -downs), food (more Kraft Dinners), entertainment (cancel the Bell Expressvu). I've already cancelled magazine subscriptions, I haven't bought a book in months (maybe a year, I really can't remember), I've given up any hobbies that cost money, and the kids don't participate in any sports that require a large outlay in equipment or membership costs.

But because someone who makes more than me can still afford to buy gas, May and Dion want to cut another 10% or 20% out of my household budget. For instance, Stephane Dion makes $220,000 as Leader of the Opposition. How much do gas prices have to go up before people in his tax bracket stop driving their cars to their executive cottages in the Muskokas or the Gatineau Hills?

And when will the tax rises end? Who will say that 12 cent a liter increase will do the trick? Have Elizabeth May or Stephane Dion explained just what exactly the effect will be? Is the tax hike tied to some sort of measurement of gas consumption? If consumption goes down, does the tax get lowered? Does the tax continue to go up if gas consumption doesn't change? I know I won't be driving less. I can't drive less.

Elizabeth May says the gas tax collected will be given back to me in other tax cuts.

First off, I don't believe her. Her kind will use the money to plant trees or save whales or expropriate great swaths of land without compensation to turn into nature preserves. All for our own good, of course. Too bad I won't be able to drive the kids to see these nature preserves. Can't afford the gas, you see.

Second, what's the point of giving it back? If I pay $30 more a week for gas, but see $60 less taken in taxes off my paycheque every two weeks, how is the environment saved?

Third, if the tax cut comes back as a credit to buy a more fuel efficient car, well, that doesn't help me. I'm already saddled with a new car that I bought in order to be more fuel efficient. And will the new car be so fuel efficient that the increase in cost for gas, as well as the increase in the price of everything else (remember, your food is delivered by truck), is covered? I doubt it. And the gas tax goes up again, is there a button on the car that I just bought (assuming I could) that makes it even more fuel efficient? I don't think so. In any case, it's not like this new car is going to appear on the day the May-Dion gas tax takes effect.

Fourth, do I make too much money? Government promises to give the taxes collected back in other tax breaks are usually tied to the amount of money you make, meaning I probably won't get the money. The Universal Child Care Benefit is a refreshing break from that approach -- every child under six earns you $100 a month, no questions asked. Of course, at tax time it gets folded into your total earnings, but then I have opportunities like RRSPs to reduce my tax load. The point is, the money is given to you up front. Waiting for some sort of tax break tomorrow while paying a higher tax today? There is no money coming back under Elizabeth May's plan. I'd bet the farm on it.

Making me pay more for gas will lower my gas consumption only by raising the price so much that it makes it impossible for me to go to work. I don't use the car for much else. Her plan will make me gas poor, but won't do squat for the environment. If her plan does throw me out of work, and if I'm forced to feed my kids while unemployed, I can promise you I won't give a rat's ass about the environment. Everyone knows that the worst environmental records are held by countries with the high-tax command economies.

Check out what Canadian bloggers have written about Elizabeth May
Results will open in a new window.

Check out what Canadian bloggers have written about Kyoto
Results will open in a new window.

Check out what Canadian bloggers have written about gas taxes
Results will open in a new window.

Check out what Canadian bloggers have written about Stephane Dion
Results will open in a new window.