This doesn’t necessarily have to do with new media today, but is nonetheless important.

Living in B.C. a recent extra tax has been added to our gas prices. They call it the Carbon Tax.

“[Finance Minister Carole] Taylor said the new carbon tax will begin July 1, starting at a rate that will have drivers paying about an extra 2.4 cents per litre of gasoline at the pumps.

If you drive a Prius hybrid, the government estimates the new tax will cost you about $20 extra per year. If you have a Dodge Ram pickup truck, that number will be closer to $68 it says.

The tax will then increase each year after that until 2012, reaching a final price of about 7.2 cents per litre at the pumps.” (The Vancouver Sun - “B.C. introduces carbon tax”)

We all understand that we want to improve our environment and reduce global warming - however I’m not sure this is the way to do it. As much as many people would love to not drive to work, a lot of them don’t have the option. People who live in the suburbs where no transit extends to, but work in the city would have a problem with this.

I really don’t think it’s going to take many cars off the roads. Although the government says all money received as a result of this tax will be returned to consumers through a package of tax cuts and credits, because prices are going up (and wages are not) people will be forced to use the money they get back, on the very gas the government doesn’t want us to spend it on.

Even for those who will only drive short distances to get to the transit and finish their commute on transit - it still doesn’t save money or encourage people to take the transit. Transit prices are rising too, and to top that off - to park anywhere near any sky train or bus station, it’s pay-parking in effect (if you park at the mall you have a large risk of being towed).

So tell me - why would I take transit if it costs almost as much as the gas to fill my car (other than to save the environment I mean)?

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The next topic are the new cell phone charges put out by Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility.

Consumers are now gong to be charged for incoming text messages. The companies are saying they can’t afford what it’s costing them so they have to charge their consumers for the cost of incoming text messages.

Calls is one thing - you can choose to ignore it so that you don’t pay for the incoming call. There is no choice involved with a text message - especially with all the spam text messages that some people get. The charge is said to be $0.15 per incoming text message - that adds up, and quickly.

Why should you pay for something you have no control over?

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Oh, and how could I forget? There’s the highway robbery of infamous ICBC. I don’t need to explain or rant about anything here because I’m sure we all have experienced the financial raping ICBC does to every single one of us. Let’s just say I pay $270/month for my car insurance, and that’s WITH 40% off. Explanation and example over.

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What I’m trying to say is, personally I don’t know what to do about these things and I’m sure a lot of other people don’t either. We continue to let the government and the corporate giants to take advantage of us when we have the power to do something about it.

So the real question is, what will YOU do to make a difference? (and encourage others to do so as well?)

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