Green Backlash Predictable

No doubt the Ontario Liberals had the best intentions putting in the Green Energy Act, the eco fees and the Greenbelt, but the poorly thought through financial implications of each initiative has made the present backlash predictable.

The Green Energy Act is flawed in that it subsidizes clean power instead of charging closer to the true cost of dirty electricity through a carbon tax. Rather than costing taxpayers money, a carbon tax would generate revenue which would replace income or sales taxes by an equal amount, costing taxpayers nothing.

Likewise with the eco-fees. Most people would accept fees to ensure the safe recycling and disposal of electronics and other dangerous products if they knew the charges would replace other taxes by the same amount.

The Greenbelt is a fine enough idea, but due the large amount of unprotected land between to developed areas and the Greenbelt, and because of development leapfrogging the protected zone, sprawl will continue apace, as if there was no Greenbelt at all, just in different parts of the province. This could have been avoided had the Greenbelt Act been accompanied by a province-wide, revenue-neutral land value tax (LVT), as recommeded by the Scottish Green Party, which would encourage infill and walkable communities plus generate provincial government revenue which would reduce other provincial level taxes.

People want to go green, but not if it means additional taxes. Revenue associated with any new government initiative, green or otherwise, should not be new taxation, but always used to reduce other taxes by equal amounts.