Angry in the Great White North

David Orchard is the Liberal Party candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in Saskatchewan.  David Orchard is demanding that Stephane Dion's proposed carbon tax be adjusted, again, to make it less onerous for farmers:

A prominent Liberal candidate who once butted heads with leader Stephane Dion says the party should make more changes to its Green Shift Plan to help farmers and northerners.

David Orchard, who is running in the vast northern Saskatchewan riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, said he stands by Dion.

But the organic farmer suggested that the Green Shift plan would hurt voters in his riding and should be tweaked — again.

“I’ve spoken out inside the party and I’ve made my views known that I’d like to see some changes in the proposal,” said Orchard.

Now here's the problem.  Stephane Dion has already adjusted the Green Shift for farmers as a result of pressure from his MPs.  He's not going to change it again.

That's probably what David Orchard was told.  It was changed and that's it.

So what does David Orchard do?  He goes public with his concerns.  I suppose we can expect that from Orchard every time he has a private disagreement with the party brass.

Worse that that, David Orchard undermines Stephane Dion's recent carbon tax "adjustment".  When Stephane Dion caved in to pressure from his MPs, he refused to gives farmers, fishermen, and truckers a break or a rebate, but instead offered a subsidy with which to switch to green technologies:

Dion's new promises break down like this:

• $400 million in emission-reduction credits, as part of the Liberal Green Shift program, for the farm and forestry industry;
• $250 million in a "Green Farms Fund" to boost research in green technologies that reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions;
• $250 million in a "Green Fisheries and Transportation Fund" that would increase investments in fishing and trucking technologies that also lessen fuel consumption.

Guess what?  According to David Orchard, there are no options:

“I don’t want to see farmers or fisherman or northerners penalized for using fuels for which there is no option, they have no alternative.”

No alternatives?  No options?  That's not what Stephane Dion says.  Stephane Dion believes that if you throw money at them, farmers and truckers and fishermen can switch to green fuels and technology.

But then Stephane Dion is Paris-educated sociology professor, and David Orchard is a fourth-generation farmer.

Who are you going to believe?

She's not impressed: Small Dead Animals has spotted David Orchard's comments too.