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I heard on the radio an alleged "expert" on happiness warbling away to the effect that British Columbians would be so overjoyed to receive their $100 climate "dividend" that they'd forgive the government for its gas tax grab.
Such silly twaddle could only trip from the tongues of those rare creatures who inhabit our other-worldly institutions of higher education.
On the same show, another prof treated us to a sycophantic, one-sided assessment of Premier Gordon Campbell's climate- change strategy that could have been written, word for word, right in his own office.
It got me out of bed fuming with indignation.
Whatever these fine folks say, being bribed with our own money to swallow a highly dubious gas tax hike in pursuit of a doubtful goal is a brazen and tawdry act of political duplicity. I regret to report that, when my climate cheque arrived, I was not transported with ecstasy.
I did recall that this Machiavellian project is soaking B.C. taxpayers for a staggering $10 million in administrative expenses alone.
And the $440 million being rifled from the provincial treasury to buy our votes is our money, too.
The government collected it from us -- we foolishly thought -- to pursue sound and proper policies, not re-gift it back to us in seductive wrapping. How vulnerable we have become to clever, sophisticated PR stunts!
The cheques come with a pamphlet with a cloying message from the premier advising us how to spend the money -- as if he knows best about weather-stripping doors and "keeping showers under 10 minutes."
Being nannied by politicians makes children of us all. It's a bogus paternalism, and it comes disguised in distressing enviro-talk.
It is claimed, for instance, that the pamphlet is printed on recycled paper that "saved 262 trees."
Such simplistic notions sit fine in a Grade 6 classroom. But it's the government's job to give thousands of British Columbian workers a decent, sustainable living by encouraging the growing, harvesting and replanting of trees -- not hugging them.
I believe most B.C. taxpayers are not fooled by the blatant manipulation for political advantage of the controversial and still undecided issue of climate change.
They know there's another side to the story, but for some reason they're not being told what it is. And, contrary to the delusions of the happiness "expert," they sense that taking the government's bribe is unlikely to make their hearts leap with joy.
For those who can afford it -- and I know times are tough for some -- there is always the option of entrusting their cheque to a worthy cause.
I said some time ago that mine would go to the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation's $200-million rebuilding fund. It's on its way.
I'm not boasting about it. But, as I dropped the envelope in the box, it did feel as if the money had been cleansed of a particularly nasty odour.
Alan Ferguson, The Province
Published: Thursday, June 26, 2008
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