Angry in the Great White North

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is trying very hard to explain to Albertans that his Green Shift carbon tax plan is not a new version of the National Energy Program.  The NEP artificially pushed the price of Alberta oil below world prices, essentially forcing Alberta to subsidize the rest of Canada.

But this is not what the Green Shift is about, or so says Stephane Dion:

"What we're proposing has nothing to do with the NEP," said Dion. "The NEP was an attempt to change the world price of oil to make it lower to accommodate nine other provinces . . . We're proposing to keep the world price where it is, very high, but to bring in Canada, including in Alberta, a sustainable, prosperous economy and I know that's what Albertans want."

Let's consider what the Liberal candidate for Yellowhead, Alberta, Mohamed El-Rafih, has to say about keeping the cost of Alberta fuel low:

He also feels that the government should do more to stop the price of fuel from rising.

"We have more oil than the Middle East, we have our own refineries…why are we so dependent on the world economy?"

Before a hurricane even hits Canada, gas prices shoot through the roof, he noted.

"Stephan Dion’s green shift wants to reinstate the national community that protects the prices of fuel and the petroleum prices," he said.

Reinstate the national community?  A national community that keeps the price of fuel down?

So El-Rafih thinks the Green Shift is going to enable Canadians to buy Alberta oil at a price below world market levels.

Hey, isn't that the National Energy Program?  Taking Alberta's oil wealth and forcibly distributing it around the country?

And how does using Alberta's wealth to subsidize fuel across the country encourage people to be more fuel efficient and help the environment?  Just asking.