Dear Editor: Political SPIN, SPIN, SPIN!

Barry A. Mitschke (RM of Lumsden; QVV author)
December 13, 2024

We have been inundated with elections this fall. Have you heard anyone who likes to use those 3-4 word slogans (sound bytes, quick-glib-lines) to flood advertisements? Especially rampant on social media like Facebook, but also radio and TV.

Most politicians try SPIN, but for some, it seems to be second nature. How about the felon, USA President-elect, leader of the CA Conservative Party, or Premier of Alberta. All right-wing politicians, hmmmmh! Some examples of their slogans include: "MAGA," "Drill, Baby, Drill," "Axe the Tax," "Scrap the Cap," etc.

Slogans that are repeated often enough become ingrained, and people do not take the time to dig deeper into the thinking behind them. Slogans become a psychological byte, and that's all people remember. If there is a political strategy going on, as is usually the case, this repetition happens incessantly. People believe and think this is the only way to make progress!

Humanity has a major dilemma! Mother Earth's fever is increasing incrementally, approaching a critical 1.5C above normal, as CO2 emissions and other Greenhouse Gases add to the blanket in the atmosphere trapping heat. Maybe their new political slogan should be: "Burn, Baby, Burn" as too many internal combustion engines and furnaces, etc., burn carbon fuels, and as wildfires in our Boreal forests, communities, and National Parks accelerate. How do we transition faster to capturing free solar, wind and geothermal energy?

Let's consider the one slogan that we hear almost daily: "Axe the Tax" refers to "Carbon Tax" on fossil fuels; discussing other types of taxes would take another essay.

See the enclosed chart. On the left, Israel and the Netherlands charge $1.25/liter for gasoline taxes; Canada is on the extreme right with one of the lowest carbon pricing/taxes for gasoline of the 35 countries shown. (The USA, Mexico, and Columbia are off the chart on the right). This so-called Federal "Carbon Tax" is small in comparison to other Federal and Provincial taxes (GST, Excise), which are 41 cents/litre altogether. Not shown are Big Oil's production costs and profits for gasoline, or the selling costs and profits by small businesses, etc. Today, these costs bring the price to about $1.44/litre in SK or more elsewhere in Canada or whatever the all-powerful Global market decides. (Travelling in Europe this spring, we noted $3.00/litre for gasoline at the pump, about 2X ours!)

This letter could go on and on. Guess what? The "Carbon Tax" is not about the tax; it is about Carbon Pricing and slowing Climate Change that huge complex issue facing humanity. My next column will try to explain my spin for "Tax the AXE!". What? In the meantime, read "Canada's carbon pricing (a.k.a. "carbon tax) explained" by Dr. David Suzuki on his superb, scientific website.

Have a Merry Christmas!