Party wants carbon tax scrapped

By Staff Writer - Vernon Morning Star Published: March 06, 2013 1:00 AM
The B.C. Conservatives have set their sights on the province’s contentious carbon tax. The party’s budget and fiscal framework, which was released Tuesday, calls for the carbon tax to be phased-out over a four-year period if the Conservatives form government. “The tax has been - and is - unfair to British Columbians who live in rural and northern regions of the province,” said Scott Anderson, chairperson of the party’s public finance committee and Vernon-Monashee candidate. “It hurts B.C. ranchers and farmers, who have faced rising input costs ever since the Liberals introduced the tax five years ago, and other industries as well.” The total annual cost of repealing the carbon tax is expected to be $1.2 billion. “There is no question that Victoria could use an extra $1.2 billion each and every year,” said Anderson. “But the carbon tax is fundamentally unfair. It hurts British Columbians on the basis of where they live, and the businesses they work in. “B.C.’s tax on carbon places our farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers at a significant disadvantage to competitors in other jurisdictions.”