VICTORIA — Finance Minister Brenda Bailey was deep into debate on phasing out the carbon tax Monday night when she took a stab at rationalizing the NDP’s reasons for waiting to act until the 11th hour. Read More
Vaughn Palmer: Brenda Bailey ducked questions the government could have researched starting last fall
Vaughn Palmer: Brenda Bailey ducked questions the government could have researched starting last fall
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VICTORIA — Finance Minister Brenda Bailey was deep into debate on phasing out the carbon tax Monday night when she took a stab at rationalizing the NDP’s reasons for waiting to act until the 11th hour.
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“Some questions have been raised about this being a panic,” she began. “Why on this day, March 31, are we bringing forward this bill?
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“Well, the reality is the premier made a commitment that should the federal government step back on the carbon legislation, we too would follow suit.”
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When Prime Minister Mark Carney signed off on the federal version of the tax on March 15, the B.C. legislature was on a two-week break.
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Informed Opinion
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“That’s something that the legislature decides upon. It’s not a government decision,” claimed Bailey. “Our first day back is today. This is why we’re bringing it forward now, to keep our commitment that as soon as we could act, we would act.”
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Wrong and wrong again.
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Carney signalled his intention to get rid of the carbon tax on Jan. 31. The other serious contender for the Liberal party leadership, Chrystia Freeland, was of a similar mind.
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The New Democrats could have introduced legislation giving cabinet the power to repeal the B.C. counterpart of the tax when the provincial house sat on Feb. 18. There was a second opportunity with the budget and its enabling legislation on March 4.
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Bailey is in her second term as an MLA, long enough to know that legislature sittings, like the legislature agenda, are entirely at the call of the government.
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The New Democrats could have postponed spring break and recalled the house on March 17, allowing two weeks instead of one day to debate Bill 8, the Carbon Tax Amendment Act.
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The last minute “panic” was entirely of the NDP’s own making. Bailey undermined her credibility by trying to suggest otherwise. But it set the tone for her entire defence of the legislation, evasive and grudging as it was.
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In seeking authorization from the Speaker to put the bill through all three stages of debate in one day, government house leader Mike Farnworth made a pledge in return.
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The government would extend the time for debate into the night of March 31, “thereby ensuring that all members who wish to debate this bill at all stages are provided ample opportunity to do so.”
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You wouldn’t know it from Bailey’s fielding of questions from Opposition finance critic Peter Milobar. She treated the clause-by-clause phase of debate as a nuisance and became more and more intransigent as the evening wore on.
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