United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney is firm that he doesn’t want a Carbon Tax without putting it to Albertans first.

Kenney introduced a Private Member’s Bill yesterday (March 15th), calling for changes to the Tax Act that would including making it mandatory to put any future carbon taxes to a provincial referendum.

“It’s not to say we could never have a carbon tax, it’s not to say it could not be increased in the future,” said Kenney. “It is to say that Albertans should get the final say before the government digs deeper into their pockets”

Kenney said that since the NDP implemented the tax in 2017, it has done nothing in regards to social licenses for pipeline projects pointing to the demise of Energy East and the past complications with Keystone XL.

In regards to the current dispute with the TransMountain Pipeline through B.C., Kenney wants Premier Rachel Notley to take a firm stand against the Federal Liberals, especially with their Carbon Tax to be mandatory nationwide come September.

“I think the Premier should say, ‘you wanted this carbon tax, you’re not giving us our pipeline? This thing is history until Alberta oil flows through this pipeline.’ If the government here really believes in this carbon tax social license argument, then prove it, use it as a leverage instead of having given it away for free to the Trudeau Liberals.”

Kenney also disputed the claims that the levy is helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions and build greener energy alternatives, as all he’s seen is an unnecessary process through the Energy Efficiency Rebates, which go through the Canada Revenue Agency before being distributed to Albertans.

“This is an unnecessary administrative cost, it doesn’t add anything to our wealth production in Alberta. It doesn’t do anything for the environment to send out those rebate checks. My point is: the lying share of the revenues don’t go to anything that is supposedly green, they go right straight back out the door in rebates.”

Of course, Kenney and his UCP counterparts have said before that if they form Government in 2019, they will repeal the NDP’s Carbon Tax and are prepared to battle Justin Trudeau and the Liberals in court for their Federally mandated carbon pricing.

 

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