Energy crisis supplants environment as top concern

GLORIA GALLOWAY
OTTAWA -- Anger at soaring gas prices has supplanted fear about global warming as the No. 1 issue Canadians say is facing their country.
As the cost of filling the tank hits uncharted heights - and is predicted to go even higher - a wide-ranging survey conducted by the Strategic Counsel for The Globe and Mail and CTV suggests energy prices are on par with the sagging economy when it comes to Canadians' worries.
The environment, last year's top issue, has been pushed to No. 3, with just 16 per cent of Canadians surveyed saying they now consider it their primary concern.
This shift could make it more difficult for Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to sell the carbon-tax plan he unveiled last week, a complex scheme to cut greenhouse-gas emissions that will be the cornerstone of his party's platform in the next election.
Mr. Dion also faced a counterattack yesterday from Alberta and Saskatchewan, which warned their economies would take a major hit under the Liberal plan. The two provinces account for 40 per cent of Canada's greenhouse-gas emissions.
"It's going to dramatically impact upon our economy and we're just not in favour of it in any way," Saskatchewan Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said the province could "take a major hit" if the plan were implemented.
In British Columbia, Premier Gordon Campbell's special adviser on climate change said he fears a public backlash over that province's own carbon tax could prompt the Liberal government to back off the measure.
"I would say this is not a done deal," said Mark Jaccard, a resource economist at Simon Fraser University.
Peter Donolo, a Strategic Counsel partner, said the environment "was No. 1 up until January" among Canadians surveyed. At that time, 22 per cent said it was the most pressing matter in Canada.
"Clearly what's happening here is that people are feeling the pain in their pocketbook," Mr. Donolo said.
Gas prices that averaged $1.05 per litre across Canada in June of 2007 hit an average of $1.38 this week. Most of that increase has come in the first part of this year. And a trip to the cottage - or even the corner store - is costing Canadians much more than it did last summer.
Meanwhile, the price of consumer goods is rising as the dollars required to transport them to market increases.
The 2.2-per-cent rise in the consumer price index in May was the highest since January and, according to Statistics Canada, was mostly a result of higher prices for gasoline. This acceleration in gasoline prices occurred as crude oil prices almost doubled between May of 2007 and May of 2008.
"Gas prices weren't even on the radar screen up until this month," Mr. Donolo said. Now they beat out, not only the environment, but other hot-button issues such as health care, the Afghanistan conflict, crime, taxes and government scandals.
The findings were part of a survey that compared the thoughts of Canadians and Americans on a broad array of issues. One thousand people in each country were polled between June 12 and June 22 yielding results that are expected to accurately reflect broad public opinion within a range of 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
The Americans surveyed were also concerned about the high cost of gas - 19 per cent said it topped their list of priorities. But gas prices were outdistanced by the economy, which was cited by 33 per cent of people south of the border.
In Canada, 18 per cent of respondents said the rising cost of gas was the most important issue. That was equal to the percentage in this country who named the economy as their No. 1 concern. In the past three years, gas prices have rarely been mentioned by people surveyed by the Strategic Counsel; the highest number was 4 per cent in July of 2006.
Critics have suggested that there will be further negative economic consequences associated with the Liberal green plan. But Mr. Dion says the shift will lead to innovation and investment.
He is proposing to impose a carbon tax worth $15.4-billion a year that would be levied on the use of fossil fuels at the industrial and consumer level, although gasoline would be exempt. It would start at $10 a tonne of carbon fuel, rising to $40 a tonne in the fourth year.
This would be offset by a cut in income and business taxes and a boost in tax breaks for those hardest hit by the increased cost of necessities, such as home-heating fuel, electricity, food and travel.