Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
Well amongst the many things that bother about the carbon tax is that the whole thing is built on estimates that someone somewhere has the figures for, and knows probably don't work out. I'm just going by what I've seen on the news, but its something like $350 cost for a family per year, and then 66% of the families are going to get a rebate for $375. So we already know its costing more than people are putting in. But the thing is that you can't just give out cheques willy-nilly...so someone has to collect the funds and administer the program. Is it crazy to suggest that this would cost $100-150/cheque by the time you set-up a system, hire staff and all that stuff? Don't forget the office space, benefits and business cards for these people. So the amount of money going in right off the bat is less than what's being advertised.
Then I wonder about the estimates for the megatons of carbon this will save from going into the air. Lie what programs are they planning on implementing? How much of this is factored in as people making behavioural changes? It all seems really optimistic to me, but of course you can't really make that claim unless you've seen the numbers.
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As is usual in these cases, the estimated cost is a moving target. Inevitably, it moves up. The environment minister now says her Carbon Sales Tax will
cost the average family over $500. The opposition says it will be twice that, and argues that even after the rebates, low income families will also be paying hundreds more.
And, of course, that will most certainly not include the additional costs we're going to have to eat from municipal taxes because Notley's getting greedy and making municipalities pay as well.