B.C. NDP wants rebate cash from carbon tax it opposes

B.C.'s New Democrats may not like the Liberals' new carbon tax, but they'll take the cash that comes with it.

The NDP is asking British Columbians to donate the $100 carbon-tax rebate they'll be getting from the provincial government to its party coffers.

The so-called Climate Action Dividend is meant to offset the increased cost to consumers of the new provincial carbon tax, which will take effect July 1.

"Make your carbon tax count, and send your rebate cheque to B.C. NDP," the party's environment critic, Shane Simpson, said in an e-mail sent Tuesday to party supporters.

At the start of next month, the province will introduce a 2.4-cents-a-litre tax on gasoline, based on a $10-per-tonne tax on greenhouse gas emissions. Similar taxes on diesel, propane, natural gas and heating oil will also come into effect July 1.

Cheques for the rebate began arriving at the homes of B.C. residents this week. Every adult and child who was a resident of British Columbia on Dec. 31, 2007, is eligible for the rebate.

The government has been encouraging people to spend the cash to reduce their carbon footprint, such as by replacing old appliances or tuning up a rusting bicycle. Many environmental groups have also been appealing to the public to donate the cheques to their climate-change initiatives.

Now the NDP says it wants the cash — to fight the carbon tax.

"[Party leader] Carole James and the B.C. NDP are committed to taking bold action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," the NDP e-mail said. "But we need your help. Here's what you can do right now: join me, and donate your $100 tax rebate to the B.C. NDP.

"You'll be helping Carole James stop [Liberal Leader] Gordon Campbell and start making real progress on climate change."

The party's request for the cash seems to contradict James's own message that British Columbians "are already struggling with record high gas prices."

"With gas prices already so high, Campbell's gas tax will only make life harder for ordinary people around the province," said a B.C. NDP news release issued Tuesday. "And what's worse, Campbell's gas tax will do nothing to fight climate change."

James launched an "axe the tax" campaign last week, calling the carbon tax program unfair.

"Let's actually put a real action plan in place that gets at the big polluters that will reduce emissions and doesn’t hurt, once again, the little guy," James said on Monday.

Economists are debating the merits of the tax.

John Richards, an economist at Simon Fraser University, said the climate action dividend cheques and tax breaks for low income earners will help combat high gas prices.

The only way to get people to change their energy consumption habits is to make it more expensive, he said.

"To be blunt, there is no way to significantly reduce demand without increasing price," said Richards.

The NDP contends people who live in rural areas will be hurt by the carbon tax because they have to drive long distances, but an economist from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which is often sympathetic to NDP policies, disagrees.

"People who live in rural areas actually drive less than most people in the city, particularly people who live in the suburbs," said Marc Lee.