Michael Sather and his NDP family secrets

Current Position: Running for re-election as MLA in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows

Past Positions: Sather recently ran to become Mayor for Maple Ridge where he finished a distant third. He was an assistant to NDP MLA Bill Hartley during the 1990s and has also worked for NDP Members of Parliament.

Family Connections: Sather has had trouble getting along with his political family. In 2007, he took a principled position that angered his boss and was suspended from caucus.

Family Secrets: In 2008, Sather ran for Mayor in Maple Ridge, promising that if he won, he would resign as MLA. He didn’t win, and now decided to run for MLA again and support such progressive policies as getting rid of the carbon tax.

Carole James fails CBC reality check on carbon tax

CBC Radio is running an election feature called Reality Check, where they try to verify things politicians say on the campaign trail. Last Friday, they skewered Carole James’ claim that the carbon tax wasn’t doing anything to reduce carbon emissions.

In fact, James said that carbon emissions increased last year by four per cent. In a stinging rebuke, CBC proved her wrong, and gave her a very bad rating for her dishonesty.

They checked her sources, and found them to be measuring the wrong things. And they checked with Environment Canada, which measures the right things, but found that reports tracking Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada are always behind by about 18 months, so numbers are not yet available to show if emissions have gone down.

CBC’s conclusion?

“What did we find when we looked under the microscope? The NDP claim that emissions have gone up four percent since July 2008 is mostly false.”

Told you so. James is making it up as she goes along, desperately shilling for rural votes. And now she’s been outed, again, for her dishonesty.

Carole James and the NDP. Wrong party, wrong leader, wrong time.

NDP blowing smoke

After last week’s provincial budget, one of the first things out of Carole James’ mouth was disappointment that the carbon tax hadn’t been axed. The NDP, self-professed home of environmentalists, continues to claim that the BC carbon tax is bad for taxpayers and bad for the climate. But the facts keep proving them wrong.

As pointed out last Thursday in the Victoria Times Colonist by Les Leyne, the tax is actually doing what it’s supposed to do. And the new budget contained a report card on the carbon tax that proves it.

“The carbon tax ogre is an essential part of the New Democrat election campaign. They need the impression that it's a punitive assault on pickup truck-driving rural B.C. to hold as much sway as possible for the next three months. So they'll likely just keep talking about it, regardless of the facts.”

Over the last eight months, gas consumption declined (although high prices at the pump probably helped that). But the structure of the tax has now created a net benefit for BC taxpayers.

The government’s report card on the tax showed that the 2.4 cents a litre more we've been paying at the pumps and similar hikes in heating fuels have been offset by the low income tax credit, the corporate and small business income tax cuts, and the reduction in personal income tax. The tax brought in $300 million in revenue, and the corresponding tax cuts have cost $338 million, leaving BC taxpayers $38 million ahead.

As Leyne wrote:

“…the vast majority of people came out slightly to the good in the first winter under the tax.”

"Are the NDP really sacrificing environmental good sense just to win rural voters driving seven gas guzzling pickups and blasting the home heating with all the doors and windows open? Because those nine people are the only ones coming out on the wrong end of the carbon tax."

Wrong party, wrong leader, wrong time.
http://www.votesmartbc.com/