Alberta Politics Thread

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

No exemption, you will see this on your property tax bill for sure.

It's ok if you live in Calgary though. Nenshi has asked landlords to stop gouging. So it's just rich home owners that will pay.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

It's ok if you live in Calgary though. Nenshi has asked landlords to stop gouging. So it's just rich home owners that will pay.

I'm gouging on this one, sorry Nenshi.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

Did cities end up getting an exemption from this? If not, have to tack on a few bucks to the property taxes I'm sure. Hopefully they'll turn down the heat at hospitals and schools.

I remember reading about Nenshi losing his poop when his best buddy and fellow T-Shirt designer didn't give the municipalities a exemption. I tend to think at the end of the day the rebate being given on the carbon tax is going to fall far short of the actual cost effects.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by CampbellsTransgressions

Don't worry, you can always reduce your utility bills by getting rid of your refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, and oven.

Then you can replace your windows to get your natural gas down. It might take 20 years to pay off though.

This is more true than we realize. Over the last few years I have jumped on the LED bulb bandwagon. Replaced about 40 50-60w bulbs in my house. I have been tracking our electricity bill to see if any savings have been achieved. Nope. Our consumption and bill has gone up.

Why? Kids. Now we use the washer, dryer, dishwasher, oven, even heat/cooling way more. It eclipses any form of savings from those $15 bulbs. Not saying they are not worth it, but the sheer volume of electricity the dryer alone uses kills off any minor savings from things like light bulbs. Even 40 of them.

Until they can get the electricity down on those things we'll just all be paying more for little benefit.

[Resolute 14]

The problem with these carbon taxes is that they rely on psychological barriers to work. And as gas prices inform us, psychological barriers lose their effectiveness once breached.

When we crossed $1/L for gas, driving and consumption went down... for a while. Then people accepted the inevitability. So much so that when the price fell back to $1 from $1.25+, people felt it was cheap. So the extra 10 cents per litre that Notley is going to charge us and throw into her general revenues won't do a god damned thing except line her government's pockets.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Nope. Our consumption and bill has gone up.

Why? Kids.

I think we can all agree that everything goes to hell (especially budgets and costs) once you have kids.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by chemgear

I think we can all agree that everything goes to hell (especially budgets and costs) once you have kids.

Kids are damn expensive, even more so when a lot of them were elected to run your province.

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

The problem with these carbon taxes is that they rely on psychological barriers to work. And as gas prices inform us, psychological barriers lose their effectiveness once breached.

When we crossed $1/L for gas, driving and consumption went down... for a while. Then people accepted the inevitability. So much so that when the price fell back to $1 from $1.25+, people felt it was cheap. So the extra 10 cents per litre that Notley is going to charge us and throw into her general revenues won't do a god damned thing except line her government's pockets.

Going to Europe is an eye opener in consumption. It seems rare to see trucks driving around there, it seems to be mostly small cars that are easy on gas. Maybe something like this is the start for here as well. It seems like everyone drives a truck here, the bigger the better.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Going to Europe is an eye opener in consumption. It seems rare to see trucks driving around there, it seems to be mostly small cars that are easy on gas. Maybe something like this is the start for here as well. It seems like everyone drives a truck here, the bigger the better.

Those cities were built before the car - so smaller cars/scooters/motorcycles are more practical. I am not sure how much that has to do with a lesson in consumption...it's always been that way

As far as trucks in Alberta go....ya when you are a rancher, farmer or have to drive out to rigs - the little fiat makes no sense. (and i hate big trucks!)

[CaptainCrunch]

It would also be easy to argue that in terms of distance and the type of industry that this province relies on that Trucks are going nowhere.

I would also argue that until the Electric Car finds a way to have a longer range, it won't be as successful as it could be in Canada.

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Those cities were built before the car - so smaller cars/scooters/motorcycles are more practical. I am not sure how much that has to do with a lesson in consumption...it's always been that way

As far as trucks in Alberta go....ya when you are a rancher, farmer or have to drive out to rigs - the little fiat makes no sense. (and i hate big trucks!)

I agree that a truck makes sense when a person needs it for cerain professions, but I don't think they are needed to go to the office downtown or for a mom to be taking the kid to soccer practice.

[WCan_Kid]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

I agree that a truck makes sense when a person needs it for cerain professions, but I don't think they are needed to go to the office downtown or for a mom to be taking the kid to soccer practice.

Just because you don't get it doesn't mean there aren't plenty of legitimate reasons for others...

[Ozy_Flame]

Come on guys, it's not hard to see that many trucks on the road - whether they are needed for Fort Mac work or ranching, or not - are clearly unnecessary. There is a distinct truck culture here whether people need it for work or not. People just love trucks here, and that probably won't change.

I saw a truck that had six tires and "MUD SLUT" written on the back the other day, with skull stickers on either side. Yeesh.

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by WCan_Kid

Just because you don't get it doesn't mean there aren't plenty of legitimate reasons for others...

Such as......

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

I agree that a truck makes sense when a person needs it for cerain professions, but I don't think they are needed to go to the office downtown or for a mom to be taking the kid to soccer practice.

or needed for parking in two spots or drive thrus or parallel parking ...

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Come on guys, it's not hard to see that many trucks on the road - whether they are needed for Fort Mac work or ranching, or not - are clearly unnecessary. There is a distinct truck culture here whether people need it for work or not. People just love trucks here, and that probably won't change.

I saw a truck that had six tires and "MUD SLUT" written on the back the other day, with skull stickers on either side. Yeesh.

Ah the ol compensating for something truck, one of my favs

[WCan_Kid]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Such as......

I work in an office downtown most days, but have to head out to the field often enough that driving a vehicle which allows me to carry my tools so I can just head out instead of driving home and switching vehicles makes sense. Also means I don't need to own two vehicles. Know lots of people in this category.

A lot of the soccer moms driving trucks are simply making use of their families second vehicle instead of buying a third, because people have boats, campers, horses and other things that get towed with, or hauled in, a truck on weekends and again, it makes no sense to have another vehicle in the fold.

I realize there are exceptions, but most people aren't buying trucks just because. If I'm dropping $50k+ on a vehicle there are a lot of options available, but a truck is the best compromise for what I, and many others, need.

[Locke]

Cyclops is right, if we ban trucks we can repeal the Carbon Tax. Get it done Notley!

[CaptainCrunch]

So question?

It looks like the intention for the Carbon Tax is to raise 3 billion dollars and we have about 4 million people in this province, isn't that over $700 dollars a head, which means that a family of 4 would really be on the hook for about $2800.00?

Also based on the math by 2018 the gas tax will be about 7 cents a liter, so if we went with that 4000 liters of gas per year calculation for a family of 4, which I still have trouble with, that works out to nearly $290.00 per year just for gas and the rebate is $360.00 so somehow we're left with $70.00 worth of rebate for gas and utilities increases? Not including other incidental cost increases

[CaptainCrunch]

If Wildrose is right they calculated that your electricity bill will jump by 7.5%, I'm lucky I pay about $50.00 per month for electricity, a little more in the winter or $3.75 x 12 Well lets just round it to $44.00.

Now I'm sure a lot of you guys especially family guys pay a lot more. And I have no clue about natural gas for heating since my only utility is electricity.

But I don't understand the NDP math here in terms of a rebate, I'm a single guy and I probably won't receive the rebate, but a family of 4 like they're advertising, that rebate is spent probably in the first 4 months of the year with just gas, ng and electricity.