OTTAWA — The Conservative government should scrap the generous tax breaks for the oil sands that some say are worth hundreds of millions annually, recommends a draft report by the Commons natural resources committee.
The accelerated capital-cost allowance program was brought in by the Liberals in the 1990s to encourage development in the oil sands, then considered a risky proposition. With oil at about $60 per barrel, however, it has turned into a $1.4 billion corporate welfare scheme.
And that's how the Tories can justify killing the program to their own base: corporate welfare bums are the worst kind of welfare bum, and its time to apply some tough love.
Once the program has been killed, the freed up cash can be redirected toward production of cleaner energy sources, which makes the whole process a piece of environmental policy.
Frankly, I don't even care if the same companies that lose their breaks can reapply for them once they've cleaned up their act. I am just against giving them free candy.
