Kennedy hosts meeting to discuss Liberal Green Shift plan
The shoe analogy is the one he likes best, Kennedy told a small but attentive audience that had gathered at Loyola Arrupe Centre for Seniors Tuesday, July 22. Both Canadians and Americans wear the Sasquatch-sized shoe, said the federal candidate for the Parkdale-High Park riding.
"What Europeans look like in terms of a carbon footprint, they wear a Size 7 or 8 racing shoe; Australians, they're walking around in Size 15 boots; China, it's in the range of Size 4 to 5, petite ballet slippers," he said sketching the different types of footwear and apologizing for his lack of drawing skills.
It became clear to Kennedy as he was flying over tiny towns in British Columbia that the provincial and federal governments must work together to solve problems like greenhouse gasses, issues that don't have any borders. What he saw was millions of acres of red hued pine trees chewed up by the pine beetle because the climate hasn't been cold enough to kill off the insect.
"Thousands of jobs, livelihoods are at stake," he said.
The atmosphere is overheating. The effect of carbon on crops, nature and the location of our cities is severe. Scientists have agreed that human activity has tipped the balance, Kennedy said.
"Impacts are being seen but we insist on keeping our heads in the sand. We can adapt, change and reduce our burden but all countries must work together to keep the increase of surface temperatures of the earth to one per cent," he said. "The government has struggled with what to do."
The Green Shift, introduced by Federal Liberal leader Stephane Dion a couple of weeks ago, is an environmental initiative that would tax pollution and reward people who change their behaviour, Kennedy said.
Simply put, it would cut income taxes, put a price on pollution and fight poverty. By its fourth year (the plan spans four years, the length of a government's usual mandate), it is expected that a family of four, with a combined income of $20,000, would save almost $2,500.
"We'll protect low-income people first," Kennedy said. "We're protecting the environment in ways that will protect families for a long time to come."
The plan would put an increasing price on greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. Putting money back into Canadians' hands, investing in renewable energy and conservation and helping families use less and pay less are keys to Green Shift.
Jennifer Wright, owner of the local business Green Shift Inc., who is suing the Liberal party for $8.5 million over the name Green Shift, attended the meeting and seized the opportunity to confront Kennedy.
He chose not to comment, only to say that Green Shift "is a concept in wide circulation."
Visit www.thegreenshift.ca for details and to read the Liberals' Green Shift plan.
