In a proposal unveiled by the federal government in 2016, starting in April 2019, carbon pollution will initially cost C$20 ($15.27) a tonne, rising by C$10 a year until it reaches C$50 in 2022, Reuters is reporting.
“Starting next year, it will no longer be free to pollute anywhere in Canada,” Trudeau said at Humber College, in Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s riding of Etobicoke. “And we’re also going to help Canadians adjust to this new reality.”
The carbon tax will affect Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Yukon, and Nunavut – who did not sign onto the pan-Canadian framework on climate change – and Ontario, which broke away from the framework after Doug Ford became Premier.
What is a carbon tax?
Basically, a carbon tax is straightforward – a price is levied on each ton of emissions produced, regardless of what kind of fossil fuel is used – regardless of it coming from coal, natural gas, gasoline or other sources. And unlike President Trump in the U.S., Prime Minister Trudeau says “he is not willing to pass the burden of climate change on to our children and grandchildren.”
Official data has shown that Canada has very little chance of meeting its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. And “putting a price on pollution is the best way to fight climate change,” said Trudeau.
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick have not complied and will have a federal carbon levy on fuels as well as a cap-and-trade style of system for large industrial emitters imposed on them. Residents in those four provinces will start getting 90 percent rebates on their next tax return, reports the Financial Times.
The rebates will offset extra costs they will pay for everything from gasoline and groceries to home heating and electricity. British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Northwest Territories already have carbon taxes with a price high enough to meet federal standards and the provincial governments handle the taxes.
Nunavut and the Yukon both chose to use the federal system and therefore they also will get to decide how to use the revenues. Prince Edward Island will be using just the big industrial emitters portion of the federal program and will also levy its own carbon tax, so it will also decide how to use the revenues.
The thing to keep in mind is that 70 percent of the people in the above-named provinces will get back more than they end up paying out as fuel costs rise to incorporate the carbon tax, with average household payments being about $248 in New Brunswick, $300 in Ontario, $336 in Manitoba and $598 in Saskatchewan, according to officials.
There is already opposition to the carbon tax, particularly from Ontario’s Doug Ford who is using Trump’s scare tactics to get people riled up over something that is very important to our survival. “The Trudeau carbon tax will force our seniors to pay more for home heating in cold winters, make parents pay more to fill up their car when they drive their children to and from soccer practice, and force small business owners to think twice before hiring additional staff,” Ford Tweeted yesterday.
The Trudeau carbon tax will force our seniors to pay more for home heating in cold winters, make parents pay more to fill up their car when they drive their children to and from soccer practice, and force small business owners to think twice before hiring additional staff. V40m6YBopF
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 23, 2018
