Haldimand "Is Dion Hiding from His Own Green Shift Plan?"

The following is an interesting article about Dion and his apparent silence on his very own Green Shift Plan. I don't know about you but according to Dion not long ago, most of his policy decreases and increases are based on his "Green Shift Plan". If he has changed his tune in midstream, what will come next. Is this a person to be "trusted?".


Ottawa Bureau
WINNIPEG–Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion yesterday appeared to back away from his Green Shift plan featuring a controversial carbon tax by insisting it is not a major part of his election platform.

"You have said it was, never me," Dion told reporters.

Dion's remarks yesterday came after he failed to mention the Green Shift once in speeches on Thursday, and after a series of big-ticket spending announcements on such things as child care and agriculture.

They also come at the end of a week in which the election campaign shifted focus, driven by the turmoil in world financial markets and increasing public awareness of economic problems.

Liberal incumbent Martha Hall Findlay (Willowdale) said it was always the plan to talk about other policies in addition to the Green Shift, so there wasn't a particular moment in which the Dion team made such a decision. However, "there has been a real frustration on our part with the misleading messaging of the Conservatives and our recognition that the significant income tax cuts that formed part of the Green Shift are simply not being recognized enough (by the Canadian public)," Hall Findlay said.

Hall Findlay, a former leadership candidate, has been campaigning for Dion outside her own Toronto riding. Since the leadership, she served as policy outreach chair, logging hundreds of thousands of kilometres across Canada.

"Attack ads have affected the label, Green Shift, and it has been mistakenly identified as a carbon tax," said Hall Findlay, instead of being seen as a plan that would bring income tax benefits to Canadians.

The Liberals unveiled the Green Shift in June and Dion spent the summer pitching it across the country.

With the Liberals trailing the Conservative party in public opinion polls, analysts have suggested that the detailed plan, which includes income tax rebates to offset the carbon tax, is too complex for Canadian voters, and raises concerns that the tax would drive the cost of fuel even higher.
Even at a nearby farm where Dion unveiled a $1.2-billion agricultural plan, the owner told reporters he has difficulty understanding the Green Shift policy.

Rudy Ammeter said he wished Dion would back away from it. "I have a hard time figuring it out," he said, adding that it would "probably (be) a good thing" if Dion downplayed the policy because "I don't think I am alone."

Asked directly by a reporter yesterday if the Green Shift was still "a centre plank" in the Liberals' federal election campaign, Dion said: "You have said it, never me."
"I always said it was an important policy for Canada. We strongly believe it will be good for our country," he said. "The Green Shift is part of the solution, but the solution is the overall plan of (a) Liberal government."

The reporter again asked him whether he was deliberately shying away from the Green Shift plan.

"No, okay, maybe I didn't use the word Green Shift, but this is a Green Shift for the country," Dion replied, referring to the infrastructure announcement he made in Toronto calling for a $70 billion commitment over 10 years.

At Liberal campaign headquarters in Ottawa yesterday, officials said there had been a misunderstanding between Dion and reporters, and that, in error, Dion thought he was being asked if he was playing down his own Green Shift plan when he made the "you have said it, never me" response. However, the transcript is clear on the question.

At a rally in suburban Montreal, Prime Minister Stephen Harper mocked Dion's remarks, playing on the Liberal leader's past statement the policy could be summed up in six words.
"It can be summarized in six words: A new tax, a new deficit," Harper said to laughter. "That is the Liberal economic plan."

In Rockland, Ont., last night, Harper sharpened his attack on Dion.

"Now he's shifting the shift. But friends, Stéphane Dion distancing himself from the Green Shift is like Tim Hortons distancing itself from the doughnut," Harper said to much laughter. "It's like Ronald McDonald distancing himself from the hamburger."

Harper warned that Dion cannot now hide from his own bad policy.

"Make no mistake; just because the carbon tax is now a hidden agenda doesn't mean it's going to go away."

NDP Leader Jack Layton said Dion is changing tactics because he knows the plan isn't working.
"He's known that the approach he's taking is not the best one and doesn't work. He's always known that," Layton told reporters in Ottawa. "He's said it before and now he's coming to terms with it in the middle of an election campaign."

While acknowledging public perception of the Green Shift has been a source of frustration, Hall Findlay underscored the plan is a fundamental Liberal policy.

She insists the Liberal team always intended to emphasize other issues throughout the campaign, as they did this week with announcements on immigration and infrastructure funding to cities. "There's no question the Green Shift is a significant part of our platform," said Hall Findlay. "We really worked hard on it over the summer."

Later in Regina, Dion was confronted by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall's critique of the Green Shift. Wall has been attacking the plan, fearing it would raise power rates 41 per cent and has compared it to the National Energy Program introduced by the Liberal government in 1980.
"I just want to say to him (Wall) and all Canadians that I would never recommend a policy if I was not convinced that it would be good for every province and territory of my country," Dion said.

Dion said the personal tax cuts contained in the plan would far outweigh any extra costs in terms of power or fuel.

The Liberals are expected to announce their full election platform next week in Ottawa. A spokesperson described the environmental policy as "the fundamental underpinning of our economic plan."

With files from Linda Diebel, Tonda MacCharles and Joanna Smith
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/502906