Angry in the Great White North

Gas is $1.25 a liter in my neck of the woods.  So the idea that I ought to pay more for gas is not likely to impress me, or anyone else.

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion wants to apply a carbon tax to fuels, but he insists not to gas:

Dion has been encouraged by B.C.'s example - and the fact that there's been no backlash to it.

Starting on July 1, B.C. will phase in a carbon tax on all fossil fuels. It's expected to generate $1.8 billion in revenue over three years, but that money will be returned to consumers in the form of income and business tax cuts.

Dion is planning to make his carbon tax proposal similarly revenue neutral. Insiders say he's proposing to offset the tax with income tax cuts of about $10 billion, plus programs aimed particularly at cushioning the blow for lower-income and rural Canadians who'd be hardest hit by increased fuel and electricity costs.

Talking points circulated to Liberal MPs stress that "a new Liberal government will not raise the tax on gas."

Talking points are fine, but the fact is, a lot of people might suspect that a carbon tax is a gas tax.  Convincing them otherwise won't be easy given that even Liberals think this is a gas tax.  I'm not just talking about rank-and-file Liberals, but Liberal MPs who are deeply involved in the Liberal Party's decision-making process on environmental issues.  John Godfrey is one such MP:

But Toronto MP John Godfrey contends that voters are smart enough to realize that they can no longer have their cake and eat it too. And he believes they'll ultimately reward the political leader who has the integrity and the guts to say so.

"You cannot have both a fight against climate change and cheap gas. This is not possible. You have to pick one," Godfrey said.

Who said gas was cheap?  Or maybe John Godfrey thinks gas is indeed still too cheap.  In any case, it is interesting that in an unguarded moment, Liberal MP John Godfrey frames the question of climate change as a problem of cheap gas, presumably something to be solved using the carbon tax.

That's not what the talking points say.  Quiet, Godfrey.  If you're not careful, foolish Canadians might think that maybe, just maybe, a carbon tax might affect gas prices too.

Because, of course, they don't believe that now.