Layton: Carbon tax would hurt poor.

Layton is probably correct but then the solution could be to have policies that neutralise any effects on the less well, off not dumping the carbon tax. Many environmentally friendly policies will hurt the poor. Environmentalists are not always very sensitive to this so it is good that Layton should point out the effects on the poor. However, the cap and trade policy could also increase prices for products manufactured by companies involved and also hurt the poor who must use them. This is from the Star.



Carbon tax would hurt poor, NDP says TheStar.com - Canada - Carbon tax would hurt poor, NDP says
Layton criticizes Liberal plan for levy on fossil fuel, saying heating a house in Canada is a necessity
May 23, 2008 Joanna SmithOttawa Bureau
Ottawa–A carbon tax would place an unfair burden on low-income Canadians, Jack Layton said yesterday.
"Those advocating a carbon tax suggest that by making the costs for certain things more expensive, people will make different choices," Layton said.
"But Canada is a cold place and heating your home really isn't a choice."
The New Democratic Party leader was at a fundraiser for an Ottawa homeless shelter to talk about poverty but used the platform to criticize a Liberal climate change plan that has not even been introduced.
He also plugged his own global warming solution.
Layton said the most effective way to combat climate change would be a cap-and-trade system that penalizes industrial polluters whose emissions surpass a certain level.
He also supports a national program that would retrofit homes and buildings to make them more energy efficient.
"Instead of making it more expensive to heat your home while consuming the same amount of energy and emitting the same amount of pollution, I want to help make it more affordable to heat your home – by helping to make it more energy efficient and pollute less," he said.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is expected to announce a climate change plan that would penalize activities that contribute to global warming. Dion maintains his scheme would be revenue neutral, with taxes it raises returned to Canadians in the form of lower personal and corporate income taxes. As well, the tax code would be tweaked to help low-income earners, Liberals say.
Layton told reporters after his speech that he recognizes that getting serious about fighting climate change might mean economic hardship, but he said any hard times should fall first to the biggest polluters.