"You know, there are two schools in economics on this. One is that there are some good taxes and the other is that no taxes are good taxes. I'm in the latter category. I don't believe any taxes are good taxes."
So said Prime Minister Harper in an interview with the Globe and Mail.
It is a strange comment for a Prime Minister to make, especially as pretty much anything that his government does depends upon some form of taxation.
It is also where the Prime Minister and I disagree strongly - not, I am sure, that he would care a great deal about that.
After questioning the Carbon Tax, though, one of my colleagues said: "Interesting column. I thought you were in favour of taxes." And the simple answer is that I am - provided that the taxes are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
Taxes, in our modern system, are supposed to be providing us with goods and services that we can more effectively obtain collectively than we can obtain individually. Yes, I know the mantra that says that the government is wholly inefficient and there is nothing that the government can do that can't be done better, cheaper, faster, etcetera by the private sector.
However, that is simply not true. There are many collective goods that we enjoy that the government is much better at delivering than the private sector.
Schools, hospitals, roads, infrastructure, armed services - all are better managed collectively than individually.
I am even in favour of taxes that support the poor, the old, and the infirm. Society is measured by how it treats its unfortunate and I would like to believe that we are a good society.
However, taxing people simply to give corporations and small businesses a tax break is something that doesn't fit into my view of how taxes should be used. Especially when corporations are making a significant profit and enjoying some of the lowest corporate tax rates in the G8 if not the entire world.
Should the carbon tax be abolished? Not necessarily.
But it should be directed towards developing solutions to the issue of climate change which is what it is about in the first place. The carbon tax is a tax on emissions based on the consumption of fossil and other carbon-based fuels. The idea behind it is to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide being introduced into the atmosphere by various sources.
So the money should be applied to helping establish renewable energy sources. Better yet, the money should be applied to establishing the industries that build wind farms and design turbines. It should be spent on research into geothermal potential or tidal energy systems.
It should be spent finding alternative ways to run our economy that do not depend on the use of fossil fuels as a source of energy.
For me, the disappointment in the carbon tax is that every time I have discussed the idea of using some of the money for research and development around renewable and sustainable energy, someone says something like: "What is the point? We are small potatoes. We don't have the resources or the intellectual capacity to develop our own industries. We should just buy the final product from other countries."
I have even had the response that "We only have 4 million people in B.C. so such an industrial base wouldn't be feasible." The thing is, Denmark only has a population of 5.6 million people and they manage to sustain such an industry. Indeed, they are exporting their technology all over the world.
Renewable energy is a major growth industry in Denmark and we buy from them. The jobs and the profit leave here and go there.
A real job strategy by our governments would see money put into growing our own companies that could develop and supply domestic and export markets.
Instead, we are still in the business of exporting raw material for use elsewhere and buying back the final products.
So, yes, there should be a carbon tax but that money should be spent supporting the development of an industry that will provide jobs and security for the people of the province. Not for tax cuts to corporations.
Of course, some people would argue that the way to lure industrial development is through tax cuts. However, that only works if the industry is already here. It doesn't get the ball rolling in the first place.
Our Prime Minister should understand that taxes do have a role in our economy. When asked where he was going to holiday, Prime Minister Harper replied: "I usually spend most of my free time at Harrington Lake. The taxpayers provide me with a beautiful cottage and summer property ..."
Must be nice to benefit from something that you don't believe in. Of course, that is not the best use of our taxes.
