The federal Liberal party adjusted its proposed Green Shift carbon tax plan today, to make it more appealing to truckers, farmers, fishers and members of the forestry industry, who will be hit hard by the tax on fossil fuels.
Dion is making his plan is to speed up green agriculture in Canada by funneling the proceeds of the tax into environmentally friendly initiatives more palatable to those affected by the changes, with $400 million in emission-reduction credits.
"(It) will help farmers to be less dependent on fossil fuels and to be more energy efficient, and then to be more competitive," says Dion as he arrived in Winnipeg Tuesday for the Liberal caucus retreat.
"It will help our farmers adapt to the unavoidable. We need to reduce greenhouse gases."
Dion also announced that the Liberals will add a $250-million `green farms fund' to support environmentally-friendly research aimed at cutting fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions, and that they will set aside $250 million to help fishermen and truckers go green.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives are already targeting Dion's green plan in television and radio ads.
Conservative Jason Kenney says a carbon tax would be devastating for the country's weakened economy. The Liberal green plan would kill jobs and drive up the cost of living -- everything from groceries and gas to electricity bills and air travel, Kenney says.
Dion told a Winnipeg townhall meeting that Kenney is deliberately misleading Canadians about the Green Shift, focusing only on the impact of the tax on fossil fuels and ignoring the offsetting tax cuts and tax benefits.
He argues that the Tory plan to regulate emissions will also increase costs to consumers, but without the offsetting tax cuts to help people adjust.
Meanwhile, NDP leader Jack Layton annouced his party's plan for a significant investment in public transportation systems across the country in Hamilton. If elected, the NDP plans to invest $76.3 million over four years in Hamilton's public transit system, by dedicating one cent per litre of the existing federal exise tax as well as revenues from a cap-and-trade carbon pricing system for companies. The money could be used for various local transit priorities -like new vehicles, security or lower fares.
Today the Green party also announced its action plan to be included in the televised leaders debate. They said that they will go to court if a consortium of television stations does not include party leader Elizabeth May in the televised debates. Former party leader Jim Harris said at a news conference today, "For the sake of democracy she has to be included...Electors have a right to know where the Green party stands."
If their plea is rejected, the Greens will take the matter to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, and seek a judicial review as a last resort, says Harris.
-With files from The Canadian Press.
