Feds to introduce carbon tax
Posted October 3, 2016 10:07 am.
Last Updated October 3, 2016 4:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, ON. (NEWS 1130) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal Liberal government will establish a “floor price” on carbon pollution of $10 a tonne in 2018, rising to $50 a tonne by 2022. Trudeau is making the announcement as he kicks off a debate in the House of Commons over whether Canada should ratify the Paris accord on climate change.
He says provinces and territories will have the option of either putting a direct price on carbon which would be a carbon tax.
“They can put a direct price on carbon pollution or they can adopt a cap-and-trade system with the expectation that it be stringent enough to meet or exceed the federal benchmark,” adds Trudeau. “If neither price nor cap-and-trade is in place by 2018, the Government of Canada will implement a price in that jurisdiction.”
Trudeau immediately took flack from the Opposition, with Environment Critic Ed Fast criticizing him for bludgeoning the provinces and territories into signing on to his plan.
“Henry Ford once said, ‘That people can have a car painted any colour they want as long as it’s black.’ That appears to be the Prime Minister’s approach today. My question to the Prime Minister is this: why is he using a sledgehammer to force the provinces and territories to accept a carbon tax grab, and what happened to his promised new era of cooperative federalism?”
The news also comes as provincial environment ministers meet in Montreal with federal counterpart Catherine McKenna to hash out an agreement over carbon pricing.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has consistently maintained that his province cannot currently afford a carbon tax, a point reiterated today by his environment minister Scott Moe. And Yukon environment minister Currie Dixon said the three northern territories all object to the plan as well.
