From the Fraser Institute

By Kenneth P. Green

Mark Carney, our next prime minister, has floated a climate policy plan that he says will be better for Canadians than the “divisive [read: widely hated] consumer carbon tax.”

But in reality, Carney’s plan is an exercise in misdirection. Under his plan, instead of paying the “consumer carbon tax” directly and receiving carbon rebates, Canadians will pay more via higher prices for products that flow from Canada’s “large industrial emitters” who Carney plans to saddle with higher carbon taxes, indirectly imposing the consumer carbon tax by passing those costs onto Canadians.

Carney also wants to shift government subsidies to consumer products of so-called “clean technologies.” As Carney told the National Observer, “We’re introducing changes so that if you decide to insulate your home, install a heat pump, or switch to a fuel-efficient car, those companies will pay you—not the taxpayer, not the government, but those companies.” What Carney does not mention is that much of the costs imposed on “those companies” will also be folded into the costs of the products consumers buy, but the cause of rising prices will be less distinguishable and attributable to government action.

Moreover, Carney says he wants to make Canada a “clean energy superpower” and “expand and modernize our energy infrastructure so that we are less dependent on foreign suppliers, and the United States as a customer.” But this too is absurd. Far from being in any way poised to become a “clean energy superpower,” Canada likely won’t meet its own projected electricity demand by 2050 under existing environmental regulations.

For example, to generate the electricity needed through 2050 solely with solar power, Canada would need to build 840 solar-power generation stations the size of Alberta’s Travers Solar Project, which would take about 1,700 construction-years to accomplish. If we went with wind power to meet future demand, Canada would need to build 574 wind-power installations the size of Quebec’s Seigneurie de Beaupre wind-power station, which would take about 1,150 construction years to accomplish. And if we relied solely on hydropower, we’d need to build 134 hydro-power facilities the size of the Site C power station in British Columbia, which would take 938 construction years to accomplish. Finally, if we relied solely on nuclear power, we’d need to construct 16 new nuclear plants the size of Ontario’s Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, taking “only” 112 construction years to accomplish.

Again, Mark Carney’s climate plan is an exercise in misdirection—a rhetorical sleight of hand to convince Canadians that he’ll lighten the burden on taxpayers and shift away from the Trudeau government’s overzealous climate policies of the past decade. But scratch the surface of the Carney plan and you’ll see climate policies that will hit Canadian consumers harder, with likely higher prices for goods and services. As a federal election looms, Canadians should demand from all candidates—no matter their political stripe—a detailed plan to rekindle Canada’s energy sector and truly lighten the load for Canadians and their families.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to immediately end the carbon tax.

“Newly announced Liberal leader Mark Carney is set to be sworn in as prime minister, and he needs to make good on his pledge and get rid of the carbon tax right now,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta Director. “When he was running for Liberal Party leadership, Carney said he would remove the consumer carbon tax and he needs to do that immediately.

“Canadians should not be paying the carbon tax for one minute longer.”

Carney was announced as leader of the Liberal Party on Sunday, March 9, making him set to be the next prime minister. During party the leadership race, Carney promised to “immediately remove the consumer carbon tax.”

The government has the ability under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to immediately reduce the carbon tax rate to $0 with no legislative change required, even with Parliament prorogued.

That means the federal government can effectively end the carbon tax immediately.

The carbon tax is scheduled to increase to 21 cents per litre of gasoline, 25 cents per litre of diesel and 18 cents per cubic metre of natural gas on April 1.

The carbon tax will cost about $15 extra to fill up a minivan, about $25 extra to fill up a pick-up truck and about $250 extra to fill up a big rig truck with diesel.

The average Canadian family will pay up to $440 extra in carbon tax on their natural gas home heating bills this winter.

“Half of Canadians are broke, and within $200 every month of not being able to make the minimum payments on their bills, they cannot afford to pay this carbon tax for a minute longer,” said Sims. “The carbon tax is an unfair tax on everything because it punishes Canadians for driving to work, heating their homes, delivering goods and growing food – it needs to be scrapped immediately.”