In 1998, shortly after Sightline (then Northwest Environment Watch) published Tax Shift (PDF), Gordon Campbell, then BC's opposition leader, invited me for a sit-down to discuss the book. He had read it and said he loved it. At the time, the New Democratic BC government was gearing up to do a pilot tax shift, inspired by the book. It was also about to be routed in provincial elections, to be replaced by Campbell's Liberals.
Campbell said, "In our first term, we're not going to shift taxes. We're going to lower them. But in our second term, we might." I didn't put much stock in his words.
Maybe I should have.
Friday's Globe and Mail reports that Campbell's Finance Minister Carole Taylor is seriously considering introducing North America's first real carbon tax, paired with reduced income taxes. She calls it a "tax shift."
Imagine that.
The tar sands blow
New nukes? A fair shot, not a free ride
Comments
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Sam Wells Posted 10:36 am
28 Oct 2007
But it does sound like a few selected core industries and consumer gasoline and diesel vehicle fuels would only be affected - although it is true there are no details at this time.
Property, permit, sales, and income taxes have always been considered fairly stable over time, but my worry is that by selecting a few key markers (refinery operations, fuel pump tax, etc.) that would introduce a degree of volatility to what was a fairly stable system.
A true carbon tax is closer to a value-added tax or VAT, but based on carbon indexing in addition to price. Maybe they're headed that way?
Onward through the fog
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