LETTER: Who is really benefitting from 'axe the tax' campaign?

To the Editor,

Imagine the public reaction today if a party campaigned on "axing the cigarette tax." We know cigarette companies hid the facts, with the help of politicians, for decades before government finally acted in the best interests of the people dying from lung cancer.

Now ask yourself who is being served by the "axe the tax" campaign against the Carbon Tax.

Is it people who are feeling impoverished by our increasingly expensive world? Or is it fossil fuel companies that get free advertising against a policy that has a measurable impact on their bottom lines? Let's also not forget ongoing government support for things like oil pipelines and LNG terminals. Our governments are still very much in the "help the bad guys" phase, no matter your political bent.

The best way to "axe the tax"—and also, by the way, ensure a livable planet—is to stop using fossil fuels. Cars, trucks, furnaces, electricity plants, everything. Hundreds have died in heatwaves or from wildfire smoke from climate change in B.C. alone. We need solutions far beyond a three cent tax on gasoline so we can end our use of fossil fuels.

Chris Alemany,

Port Alberni