Angry in the Great White North

If Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion ever gets his carbon tax, and a province has its own carbon tax, that means people in that province will be paying two separate, mostly overlapping, carbon taxes, right?

I mean, it seems so obvious.  It also seems like a very unpopular thing to say, politically.

Well, maybe:

One carbon tax in B.C. is bad enough. But if federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion becomes prime minister and brings in his promised federal carbon tax, would we be coughing up twice to pay the carbon-taxman?

Depends who you ask. And on which day.

[B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell] was quick to reassure B.C. taxpayers that they won't be paying two carbon taxes if Dion wins the always-looming federal election.

"Mr. Dion actually called me and said there would not be a double taxation, that he does not want to impose something that will not work on British Columbians," Campbell said on July 6.

Wait a minute: A federal carbon tax "will not work on British Columbians" but a provincial one will? Now I'm really confused!

Paying two taxes is not confusing.  Canadians do it all the time, unfortunately.  What is confusing the the politicians ducking and weaving as they try to toss the tax hot potato back and forth.

Stephane Dion responded and cleared up...nothing.  He insisted there were no side deals discussed, making Gord Campbell's assurance that people in British Columbia would not be double-taxed utterly worthless:

But the confusion hit a new level on the weekend when Dion was asked the same question: Would there be special accommodation for British Columbia, which already has a provincial carbon tax?

Dion's answer: "No, we didn't speak about side deals."

So which is it: Would British Columbians get whacked twice or not? As both of these Liberals try to refine their political spin, voters are left to wonder.

Nova Scotia Liberal MP Scott Brison told his constituents there would be a carbon tax side deal for people in Nova Scotia :

Brison (Kings-Hants) told a Halifax newspaper a "Dion government would sit down with the provincial government and engage both the government of Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Power in a constructive discussion on how to help Nova Scotia (make the) green shift and we would invest in it."

So Nova Scotia is getting a side deal, but British Columbia isn't?

Well, Stephane Dion has clarified his comments in Napanee, Ontario, and rather brutally:

Dion also praised British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell for that province's recently introduced carbon tax, and said he felt the Ontario government and Dalton McGuinty were on the right track.

“We will seek to harmonize our plan with those provinces that have provincial plans, but one of the strengths of our plan is that it is entirely within federal jurisdiction,” added Dion.

The structure of his sentence is "we want to harmonize but it is a federal power". 

"But" is a great conjunction.  It essentially negates everything that precedes, justified by the reason that follows. 

It's like when people say "I'm sorry but..." when apologizing.  The "but" means they're not really sorry. 

The same is true here.  It is clear (finally) that Stephane Dion says harmonization is not a requirement for a Liberal government to impose a carbon tax on all Canadians everywhere.  Provincial opposition will not factor into Stephane Dion's plan to tax everything.  Provincial action on pricing carbon will not preempt Stephane Dion's plan to tax everything.

Let me summarize what we know so far about the relationship between Stephane Dion's carbon tax and existing or future provincial plans:

Voter: Am I going to pay two taxes or one?

Stephane Dion: Who cares?  What is really amazing is that it is a purely federal tax and I'm doing it!  Green Shift!  Revenue neutral!  Suzuki!  Suzuki!  Klaatu barada nikto!  Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

Voter: What the...?

Yeah, who cares how many carbon taxes you pay?  Certainly not Stephane Dion.  As long as you're paying his carbon tax.

Addendum: Sort of sounds like a green variation of that other monument to respecting provincial sensibilities, the Clarity Act, also designed by Stephane Dion.