My apologies
… I have been busy with CA meetings for the Kamloops North and South Thompson
CA’s … the Public Town Hall meeting in Clearwater with John Cummins tomorrow
night ... and the founding meeting of our Fraser Nicola CA which takes place on
Saturday.
That
means todays blog post will be a bit of ‘This and That’ from the news over the
past couple of days. Let’s start out
with a story from Jordan Bateman OF the Canadian Taxpayers Federation;
“Outrageous B.C. Gas Taxes Keep Economy in
Neutral”
If the
federal and B.C. governments are as hungry to spark job creation as their
expensive TV commercials and overseas trips make it appear, they should cut the
taxes on gas.
Taxes now
make up nearly one-third of the cost of gasoline, which both penalize drivers
and raise the cost of any good or service moved by a vehicle. Leaving more of
that money in drivers’ pockets to spend anywhere but on government, simply
makes sense.
Lower
Mainland drivers pay the highest gas tax on the continent—more than 49 cents
per litre. In Victoria, the tax burden is almost 41 cents, while the rest of
British Columbia sits at the national average of 37 cents per litre.
Next
up, is the “The great Hydro cost coverup”
by Vaughn Palmer of the Vancouver Sun
As the
B.C. Utilities Commission moved this spring to hold public hearings on the
B.C. Liberals' controversial electricity plans, the government mounted a
rearguard action to drag the process back behind closed doors.
… the
process is the formal name for what is essentially a backroom deal, brokered by
the regulator with Hydro and the industry and consumer groups that make up the
bulk of the players at any public hearing.
Had the
commission gone along, the public hearings, set for a minimum three weeks
starting June 18, would likely have been cancelled. Much to the relief of the
Liberals, who - I'm told - lobbied hard to make sure they never happened …
