Tuesday, May 22, 2012 09:51 AM
Prince George, B.C.- Vancouver- Quadra Liberal MP Joyce Murray is making a northern swing to talk with community leaders about their respective issues.
Speaking on the Meisner program this morning on CFISFM, Murray says members of the Federal Liberal caucus are fanning out across the country to gauge the public pulse on the Federal budget and other issues impacting voters.
When asked about the possibility of a shift in tax sharing with local governments, Murray says she thinks there can be a change. Just last week, 86 Mayors from across the country huddled in Penticton to prepare their case for a bigger share of the taxation pie, when right now they only get 8 cents of every dollar collected.
Murray says dividing the pie differently doesn’t necessarily mean people will have to pay more taxes. She says reigning in federal spending would be the first step.
Murray says her position on the proposed twin pipeline by Enbridge is very clear, “We cannot have those big oil tankers in the Dixon Channel- Hecate straight area.” She introduced a bill that would have banned oil tanker traffic around Haida-Gwaii but that bill died on the order paper when the last election was called.
Murray says she is concerned that fisheries and environmental policies that were developed over decades are being impacted by one federal budget implementation bill with little time to examine the details through committee.
Murray points to the analysis by economist Robyn Allan who says the business case put forth by Enbridge, should be questioned. Murray says according to Allan, the Enbridge case assumes the Canadian dollar will be at an average of 85 cents over the long period, and that the price of a barrel of oil will continue to rise , but there is no analysis of what those factors will do to the consumer’s habits.
Murray says there are still questions about why there is no National Energy policy that would ensure our oil is processed in Canada with those manufacturing jobs staying in Canada.
Original post found here: http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/24465/3/murray+huddling+with+community+leaders
