CARBON TAXES * Canada - Truckers need help

The typical long-haul owner-operator will pay $1,000 this year, $3,000 in 2010 and $6,000 in 2012 in carbon taxes

Vancouver,BC,Canada -The Province -June 29, 2008: -- You may not like the way they hold you up on the road, but trucks are the lifeblood of our economy. They transport the daily necessities that keep everything moving along -- from food to lumber... So if you think you're going to be hit hard by Premier Gordon Campbell's new gas tax, which takes effect this week, spare a thought for those who work in B.C.'s trucking industry. They'll be paying a whole lot more... B.C. Trucking Association CEO Paul Landry says the typical long-haul owner-operator will pay $1,000 this year, $3,000 in 2010 and $6,000 in 2012 in carbon taxes -- offset by just $20 to $50 in income-tax cuts and the $100 carbon-tax cheque per family member... Plus, the trucker will have to pay extra for the fuel for the personal vehicle (or vehicles) he and his family may drive. Does this sound as if it is "revenue neutral"?... It doesn't to us. And the industry will clearly need some government assistance -- especially in using new fuel-saving technologies... (Picture by Jason Payne/The Province - Maureen Bader of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation shows governments' huge chunk of the tax pie)


* High gas prices fuel gov't windfall - Feds reap $100-million bonanza for every 10-cent hike at the pump

Vancouver,BC,Canada -The Province, by Kent Spencer -June 30, 2008: -- Soaring prices at the pump add up to a tax bonanza worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the federal government, says the Canadian Taxpayers Federation... Ottawa takes in $100 million in additional GST for every 10-cent rise in the price of a litre of gas, says Maureen Bader, the federation's B.C. director... The GST is only one of the taxes that consumers are fuming about as the summer touring season begins... Tomorrow, B.C. introduces its controversial 2.4-cent carbon tax on gas, the first in North America... Prices have changed dramatically since the Liberals announced it on Feb. 19... The new tax means governments will receive 40 cents from every litre sold at the benchmark $1.47 price...