SLOBODIAN: Canadians can’t be conned by crafty Liberal carbon ‘rebate’ slogan

The federal government will take another hard jab at Canadians when the despised federal carbon tax increases again on April 1. But the crafty Liberals devised a scheme to try to soften the blow, hoping Canadians will be too stupid to catch on to their trickery.The Liberals decided to rename the Climate Action Incentive the Canada Carbon Rebate. So, they’ll continue to pick Canadians’ pockets with a useless burdensome tax most don’t want and nobody agreed to, then spin the scraps tossed back as a benevolent rebate. All the while acting like the money comes out of their own generous pockets.They hope hard-working taxpaying dummies will be duped by the name change and therefore, be really, very grateful. This profound Liberal arrogance in coming up with a new slogan instead of tax relief would be laughable if bread and wilted lettuce and gas and heating costs weren’t so crippling.It’s like launching a dishonest ad campaign about a super sale after jacking up the price.It’s akin to borrowing, say, 11 bucks, then making a big to-do about only paying back $4. But hey, look, you’ll get $1 back four times a year!Or, as Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Franco Terrazzano so aptly put it, “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax rebrand is just lipstick on a pig.”After the April 1 hike, the carbon tax will cost 17 cents per litre of gas, 21 cents per litre of diesel and 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas. Rebates in 2024 will moderately increase. Quarterly payments for a family of four are: $450 in Alberta, $300 in Manitoba, $280 in Ontario, $376 in Saskatchewan, $190 in New Brunswick, $206 in Nova Scotia, $220 in PEI, and $298 in Newfoundland and Labrador.The Liberals have often claimed it all sort of, kind of, balances out nicely. In fact, some have proclaimed Canadians get back more than they pay. Canadians who are living a whole lot leaner know that’s not true. Even the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated the tax costs the average family up to $710 even after the rebates.But look, said the Liberals like they just invented the wheel, we have direct deposit! They proudly announced they are instructing financial institutions to include “Canada Carbon Rebate” on bank statements so that dumb Canadians, some desperately waiting for those rebates to buy gas and food, will know where the money suddenly appearing in their accounts comes from.“If we can speak the language that people speak because people say the words carbon, they say the words rebate. And if we can speak that language, it’s important that people understand what’s going on here,” said Minister of Labour and Seniors Seamus O’Regan.Please, speak slowly Mr. Minister so that “the people” can grasp the annoying fullness of your condescending drift that suggests they are morons.Actually, don’t bother. Canadians know exactly “what’s going on.” And that’s why re-election prospects are looking grim for the Liberals who place more importance on climate hysteria and hoaxes than milk in the fridge for children.Mr. “Canada Carbon Rebate” slogan O’Regan actually mocked the Conservatives’ slogan — because they are in tune with what Canadians want — that promises to “axe the tax.”“We need people to understand that when we talk about ‘axe the tax,’ we’re talking about axe the rebates and people are relying on that rebate. They are budgeting that money,” said O’Regan.What a bubble he lives in. Does he not understand that Canadians are budgeting that money because of the Liberal carbon tax is robbing them of their money? Does he think Canadians will buy his feigned compassion about the hardship they are enduring?Of course, the radical Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault chimed in. Why are Canadians preoccupied with the crippling carbon tax when there are “natural catastrophes” to pay for? he admonished.“The cost of natural catastrophes in this country has increased by a factor of 10 over the last decade,” he said. “Sector by sector, our plan is working.” Working for who?This would be the same genius who said he wants Canadians to start cycling or walking everywhere, then walked it back like a coward after a backlash.Guilbeault told a transit conference in Montreal that money spent on roads should be redirected to fight climate change.“Our government has made the decision to stop investing in new road infrastructure,” he said.You mean the roads that buses, the transportation the Liberals favour, and electric vehicles must travel on?Well, set an example then, Guilbeault. Start lacing up. Start walking back and forth between your home in Montreal to Parliament in Ottawa — 200 kilometres apart, so 400 kilometres round trip. A fit person takes an average of nine minutes to walk one kilometre.But don’t fret. Canadians are so fed up with Liberals pummelling them with taxes, and peddling them as rebates, it won’t be long before it’ll a one-way trip home.See, Canadians really aren’t as dumb as the Liberals hope they are. For them, “axe the tax” isn’t a mere slogan. It’s survival.

SLOBODIAN: Canadians can’t be conned by crafty Liberal carbon ‘rebate’ slogan

Related Stories