Canada's carbon tax still an election issue

Canada's carbon tax is still an election issue. While new Prime Minister Mark Carney has zero-rated the consumer carbon tax, at least for the election campaign, he insists the industrial carbon tax is still necessary and plans to increase it; while Conservative leader Poilievre is still committed to ending both taxes. 

LILLEY: PM Carney has it all wrong with industrial carbon tax | Toronto Sun | Brian Lilley: 

March 17, 2025 - "While Conservative Leader Poilievre was promising to scrap the industrial carbon tax, Prime Minister Carney was defending it as a necessity on his trip to Europe. On Friday, Carney and his just sworn-in government passed an order-in-council to reduce the rate of the consumer carbon tax to zero come April 1 [see video]. The industrial carbon tax remains in place, though, and will increase by nearly 20% on that same day.

"Standing in a steel plant in L’Original, Ont., about an hour east of Ottawa, Poilievre said that increasing the carbon tax on businesses at a time like this will kill off jobs.... Poilievre said that if elected Prime Minister, he would repeal the entire carbon tax while offering incentives for companies to reduce emissions. 'While the Liberals tax businesses who use energy, Conservatives will cut taxes and boost incentives for those who bring down emissions. Carrot, not stick,' Poilievre said.

"Speaking in London after a meeting with British PM Keir Starmer, Carney who has spent the past few days boasting about dropping the consumer carbon tax, said it was vital that there be a carbon tax on industry. Hang on a minute, until five minutes ago, the policy of the Liberal Party and a policy advocated by Carney was that a consumer carbon tax was vital....

"Carney said increasing the carbon tax on industries, like steel plants, is an economic opportunity that will create jobs. 'We have an enormous opportunity here in Canada. The United Kingdom has an enormous opportunity. France has an enormous opportunity. Europe has an enormous opportunity to leapfrog over American companies. They’re trying to turn back the clock and look inwards. We’re going to take that opportunity,' he said. Of course, if the polls change again and the Liberals are less popular, Carney’s answer and policy could change.... 

"While in London, Carney said that Poilievre couldn’t have the kinds of meetings he had on Monday, but Poilievre said that meetings on their own don’t produce jobs and economic opportunity.

“France signed a natural gas supply agreement with Qatar. We could be selling that gas,” Poilievre said while pointing out the Liberals have refused to approve LNG export terminals. We know they need our gas. Japan, Greece, Germany, France, and other countries, Ukraine, have all asked for our natural gas. But the radical net zero keep it in the ground ideology that has guided the Carney Trudeau Liberals for 10 years and caused the lost decade has prevented us from doing it,' Poilievre said.

"Carney did not get a deal to sell Canada natural gas when he was in Paris. In fact, he got photo ops and not much more. The British Prime Minister wouldn’t even hold a joint press conference with Carney.... 

"The biggest achievement Carney had on his European trip was showing arrogance and disdain when journalists asked about his significant investment and asset portfolio, now in a blind trust, and what potential conflicts of interest there might be. Carney lectured both Stephanie Levitz of the Globe and Mail and Rosemary Barton of CBC for daring to ask questions. He came off as arrogant and condescending to two of the people who will be covering him during the just-about-to-be-called election campaign. It wasn’t a good look for Carney and it wasn’t a good trip."

Read more: https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-pm-carney-has-it-all-wrong-with-industrial-carbon-tax

Lilley Unleashed: Carney's big carbon tax lie to Canadians | Toronto Sun | March 17, 2025:

Trump, Carney both bad for Canada's economy

Trump's plans to restructure the U.S.A.'s economy will hurt Canada's. So will Mark Carney's carbon tax plans. 

Carney a threat to our economy, just like Trump | Toronto Sun | Brian Lilley:

February 23, 2025 - "As a country, we simply aren’t ready for what is coming from Washington. I’m not talking about the tariffs.... I’m talking about Trump’s changes to the American economy. 

"On Saturday, Trump was speaking to his most enthusiastic supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.... Once again, he made them a promise that should make every American excited.... 'To further, turbo charge our economy, we’ve launched the most aggressive deregulation program in any nation’s history, and we’re also going to be seeking the largest tax cuts in American history,' Trump said. 'We brought them down, as you know, from close to 40% down to 21% now we’re bringing them down to 15% if you make your product in the United States of America'.... 

"There are so many things in that brief snippet of Trump’s speech that should worry Canadian business and political leaders.... In Canada, we have a high regulatory burden and our biggest trading partner and competitor for investment is about to have a much lower burden. That will make Canada less attractive to investment and to executives making decisions on where to expand or locate plants. 

"The same on taxes. Right now, the effective corporate tax in Canada is 15% — the same level Trump wants to lower his rate to. For more than a century, Canadian industrial policy has sought to ensure a lower rate on corporate taxes as a way to attract investment and jobs. For the most part it has worked, but with an equal corporate tax rate, a reduced regulatory burden and the possibility of tariffs, the United States becomes more attractive ... unless we also change and radically alter our economic rules. 

"Sadly, we are about to get a new prime minister who doesn’t see that as the way forward. A few weeks ago in Halifax, Liberal leadership hopeful Mark Carney announced that he would get rid of the consumer carbon tax but then said he’d make up the difference by increasing the industrial carbon tax....Twice he mentioned steel companies as an example of the kind of big polluter he wants to pay for his program. 

"Steel companies create jobs, unlike Carney, and are already paying massively on the carbon tax. Take Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, which in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2024, paid $24.6 million in carbon taxes on a net income of $105 million. Since then, the carbon tax already went up by 23% last April 1 and this coming April 1, it will see another increase of 19%.... [W]ere Algoma to produce the same amount of steel that they did in fiscal year 2023-24, they would be paying nearly $36 million annually in carbon taxes.... Algoma ... would likely shut down in the face of Trump’s changes and Carney’s foolish policy. Other players in the industry, like ArcelorMittal, which owns Dofasco, would likely just move production to their various American plants....

"Carney mocks the idea put forward by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre that we need to axe the tax, but that is exactly what we will need to do. In the face of tariffs, but just as much in the face of Donald Trump’s remaking of the American economy, we will have no choice. 

"Actually, we will have a choice: We can stay with the status quo and sink into a recession and persistent economic decline, or we can start to rebuild our economy to compete and that includes not putting unnecessary costs on businesses and industry that will only chase away jobs and investment. Poilievre understands that; he gets that to compete in this new economic order being created by Trump that we need to unleash our own economy, diversify trade, and embrace Canada’s natural resource-based industries."

Read more: https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/carney-a-threat-to-our-economy-just-like-trump

LILLEY UNLEASHED: Carney’s bizarre plan to replace carbon with something worse | Toronto Sun | February 4, 2025:

Canada's PBO: carbon tax costs exceed rebates

A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says that Canada's carbon tax is costing Canadian households more on average than they receive in rebates.

Canadians get less in carbon tax rebates than they pay out: PBO report | True North | Quinn Patrick, True North Wire:

October 11, 2024 - "The latest report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer reaffirmed that Canadian households are paying out more than they receive back in rebates, despite repeated claims from the Liberals to the contrary. This has led the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Conservatives to call for the Trudeau government to finally scrap the federal carbon tax.... 

"'Our "fiscal impact only" estimates of household net cost include the federal fuel charge paid directly and indirectly, as well as the related Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid, less the Canada Carbon Rebate received,' reads the report. 'The average household in each of the backstop provinces will see a net cost, paying more in the federal fuel charge and GST, as well as receiving lower incomes (due to the fuel charge), compared to the Canada Carbon Rebate they receive,' the report continued. 

"According to Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux, although 'Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change,' Canadians will still have to fork over an additional $399 on average above the amount received in rebates. 

Table courtesy Western Standard.

"That figure does not include the GST that’s tacked on top of the carbon tax, which the PBO report estimates will cost taxpayers $400 million alone this year.... 

“'It’s simply not credible to believe the government can impose a carbon tax, skim some money off the top, charge its sales tax on top of the carbon tax and then make families better off,' said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the CTF. 'Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should take this PBO report as a wake-up call and scrap the carbon tax'.... 

"The Conservatives released a statement on Thursday claiming that the report confirms what they have been saying for some time, that the carbon tax is 'nothing more than an expensive scam.'

"'[T]he PBO confirmed that the NDP-Liberal tax will cost the average person $652 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $575 in PEI, $580 in Nova Scotia, $457 in New Brunswick, $903 in Ontario, $693 in Manitoba, $894 in Saskatchewan, and $697 in Alberta. Despite what Justin Trudeau says, it is indisputable that the carbon tax makes most Canadians poorer,' reads the Conservative’s statement.... 

"The carbon tax was last increased on April 1 by 23%, however, the Liberals have laid out plans to continue hiking the tax through to 2030 until it quadruples the current amount. The government’s justification for the carbon tax and its hikes has always been that Canadians are receiving a net benefit from rebates, however, the report contradicts this claim." 

Read more: https://tnc.news/2024/10/11/canadians-get-less-in-carbon-tax-rebates-than-they-pay-out-pbo-report/

PBO says rebate cheques don't cover full impact of carbon tax | Franco Terrazzano-CTF | Bridge City News | Oct 10, 2024:

Carbon tax costing Canadians $20 Billion/year

Carbon tax costing Canadians $20 Billion

Carbon tax will cost $25B in GDP in 2030, Liberals' own data show | National Post | Catherine Levesque:

June 13, 2024 - "The federal carbon tax will have a negative economic impact on Canada’s real gross domestic product (GDP) of $25 billion, or approximately one per cent, in 2030 according to the government’s own internal data it released on Thursday. Those numbers, which were shared with the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) last month on the condition they remain confidential, were published as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was about to deliver a speech to call on the government to disclose them publicly. The government had previously said it could not release the data because it could contain sensitive information....

"Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) estimates that the real, or inflation-adjusted, GDP in a scenario without a carbon tax in 2030 would be $2,688 billion. With a carbon tax, that number drops to $2,663, which is a difference of $25 billion. That amounts to a 0.92 per cent reduction in real GDP in 2030."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/carbon-tax-will-impact-gdp-by-25-billion-in-2030-internal-data-released-by-liberals-shows

BOOM! Trudeau's Carbon Tax Costs Revealed! | Canadian Taxpayers Federation | June 14, 2024:

UPDATED: PBO releases carbon tax data — $20 billion annual hit to Canadian economy | Western Standard | Jen Hodgson:

June 13, 2024 - "The Trudeau Liberals after weeks of evasion finally released carbon tax data Thursday morning. The ever-increasing tax has made a $20 billion-a-year dent in the Canadian economy.It results in an additional annual cost of $1,200 per family every year, to continue increasing. By 2030 it will cost Canadians $30.5 billion annually. The Official Opposition is now calling for the resignation of Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

"'We just learned moments ago that this country has been keeping a $20 billion secret, said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons. 

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) revealed that there was a report the government had been covering up, and had gagged him from releasing, about the actual cost to Canadians. Now, the pressure that is weighing heavily on Liberal MPs, the government has finally relented, and released part of the information. It had to be pulled out like a rotten tooth! And rotten it is, $20 billion per year, in lost GDP as a result of the carbon tax. That works out to $1,200 per family in extra annual costs for Canadians.

"Guilbeault 'must resign over (his) $30 Billion carbon tax coverup,' the Conservatives wrote in a statement Thursday after figures were released. He has 'been caught in a lie.

For years, he has told Canadians that the carbon tax was somehow making them richer, while hiding a secret internal report that proved that Trudeau’s carbon tax will cost Canadians $30.5 billion each year, nearly $2,000 per Canadian family, by 2030. As a direct consequence of Trudeau’s carbon tax, life has become unaffordable. Families will have to pay $700 more for groceries this year, while millions of Canadians are lining up outside of food banks. In Toronto, one in ten people are having to rely on food banks to survive.  

Guilbeault and the Liberal Government have been lying to Canadians and hiding this inconvenient truth.... He must resign, and if he won’t then Justin Trudeau must fire him and start telling Canadians the truth.

"Franco Terrazzano, director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told the Western Standard the Trudeau Liberals’ carbon tax is costing Canadians an excessive amount of money and it needs to stop. ''The government’s own data confirms the carbon tax will cost Canada big time,' said Terrazzano.... 'The feds must scrap the carbon tax now.'”

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/breaking-pbo-releases-carbon-tax-data-20-billion-annual-hit-to-canadian-economy/55303

NS carbon tax protesters debunk "Diagolon" story

After Pierre Poilievre met with carbon tax protesters camped at the Nova Scotia border, Press Progress reported that some of the protesters had been "at events with 'Diagolon' influencers;" then CTV News claimed that they were "affiliated with ... the far-right group Diagolon;" then Justin Trudeau (see video) began calling them "members of Diagolon." Only one reporter bothered to visit the camp and ask the protesters.

Carbon tax protesters shut down media’s “Diagolon” claims | True North | Clayton DeMaine:

April 26, 2024 - "Despite claims made by Press Progress and CTV News, protesters at the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick border have no connection to podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie’s fictitious meme country Diagolon. Justin Trudeau and some media corporations made the sensational claim after Pierre Poilievre visited a carbon tax protest while in between events in Atlantic Canada.... The protesters have been camped at Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia, since Justin Trudeau hiked the carbon tax by 23% on April 1.... 

"Protest organizer Tommy Everett told True North in an interview that none of the approximately ten people who protest overnight at the camp support Mackenzie or have any connection to his fictitious country. 'Us being with Diagolon is just, grasping at soggy paper straws,' Everett said. 'Because they seen a drawing that somebody drew two or three years ago on the inside of a camper with numerous other signatures from people all over Canada.'

"He said the drawing of the flag ... was done in Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy. ''The person that owns the trailer was a mechanic at the Freedom Convoy. He had a diesel heater inside. So everybody (protesters) used that space to get warm while they were strolling up and down the streets,' he said. 'It was kind of a pop-in, you know, warm yourself up, get a cup of coffee, have a cookie, and then after you’re warm, continue on your way.' At the Freedom Convoy, it was popular for people to sign each other’s trucks, trailers, cars and flags....

"'That was the only time that (the person who drew the flag) stepped foot in the camper,' Everett said. 'They haven’t been in the camper since, nor have they been down here at any time. Since this protest has happened, they haven’t even stepped foot on the property nor the highway we’re protesting on.'

"Tommy said he was familiar with Mackenzie but hasn’t wanted 'anything to do with him' since he 'joked' about raping Poilievre’s wife. 'We don’t support the sexual assault of women. We support women being our equal counterparts. Anything that involves any kind of violence against anybody, we do not support,' he said. 'To reiterate, nobody here supports Jeremy. nobody at all.'

"The NDP aligned, Broadbent Institute funded, Press Progress’s report quoted from the Emergencies Act Inquiry which noted that law enforcement viewed Diagolon as a 'potentially dangerous organization.' The reporting did not include information from an 85-page investigative report co-authored by journalists Caryma Sa’d and Elisa Hategan, which found the Trudeau government and the legacy media reports overly relied on the same source of flawed information from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which receives funding from the Liberal government.

"Internal communications between Canadian officials showed they did not view Diagolon as an extremist threat or even an organized group were included in their report. The RCMP said Diagolon 'does not pose a criminal or national security threat'.... Canadian national security official Matthew Dejardins said 'Diagolon does not meet dictionary definitions of a group,' on March 16, 2022.

"When asked at the Public Order Emergency Commission, Tom Marazzo said Diagalon is a 'meme.' 'The vice president of Diagolon, being a time-travelling cocaine-addicted goat, that’s just an internet meme that has no meaning at all,' Marazzo said. At the inquiry, Mackenzie testified that the 'demonic goat figurine' is named Philip."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2024/04/26/carbon-tax-protesters-diagolon-claims/ 

Trudeau endorsement of Poilievre, Diagolon & Alex Jones [parody] | Craig Blackmer | April 24, 2024: 

Canada's Conservatives open 20-point lead

The latest Abacus poll, conducted after the carbon tax increase on April 1, shows Canada's Conservative Party has opened up a 20-point lead over the governing Liberals. 

New survey says Conservatives open up big lead over Liberals since carbon tax increase | Westerm Standard | Shaun Polczer

April 12, 2024 - "[T]he CPC [Conservative Party of Canada] has opened its biggest lead yet over the Trudeau government. If an election were held today, the Pierre Poilievre-led party would gather 44% of the vote compared to 24% for the Liberals. That’s up three points from March 31, while the Liberal tally is up one.... 

"The NDP, at 17% is down 2% while the Bloc Québécois at 6% — 29% in Quebec — is down one point. At 5%, the Green Party gained a single point while the People’s Party lost a point to settle at 3%.

"According to Abacus Data, all of the interviews were done following the increase in the federal carbon tax on April 1 and in the midst of several pre-budget announcements by Trudeau and his various cabinet cohorts. 'Controlling for the independent effect of each of these is difficult but the before/after nature at least allows us to understand what has happened,'said Abacus Data CEO & Founder David Coletto. 'This 20-point lead is the largest we have ever measured for the Conservatives'.... 

"Conservatives are ahead everywhere except Quebec, where they are now statistically tied with the Liberals and BQ. Regionally, the Conservatives are well ahead in the Prairies, lead by 25 in BC and 19 in Ontario. In Atlantic Canada, the Conservatives are 18 points ahead of the Liberals....

Courtesy Abacus Data.

"Abacus said the carbon tax increase on April 1 has not yet had any noticeable impact on Liberal support, but may have helped the Conservatives. \We will need a few more weeks of data to know this for sure. This means that political harm of the carbon tax may have run its course and things can't get too much worse for the Liberals.'”

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/canadian/new-survey-says-conservatives-open-up-big-lead-over-liberals-since-carbon-tax-increase/53785

Read poll: https://abacusdata.ca/conservative-open-up-largest-lead-yet/ 

Trudeau Liberals' Net Zero policies will harm future generations

Trudeau carbon tax hike will hurt future generations | Fraser Institute | Kenneth T. Green, Senior Fellow: 

March 21, 2024 - "Despite calls from seven of Canada’s premiers ... to scrap the upcoming carbon tax hike, ... Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has doubled down as he tries to convince Canadians this tax, ... set to rise from $65 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to $80 per tonne on April 1, will really be good for them. Speaking with reporters in Calgary (not coincidentally Premier Danielle Smith’s backyard), the prime minister said, 'My job is not to be popular. My job is to do the right things for Canada now and do the right things for Canadians a generation from now' to 'deliver that better future one generation from now, two generations from now.'

"But Trudeau’s argument that somehow GHG reductions, which might stem from Canada’s carbon tax, will yield appreciable benefits of any kind — economic or environmental — now or in the future is nonsense.... 

"Canada’s share of global GHG emissions is slowly declining and small relative to the world’s larger emitters, particularly China. Indeed, in 2021 Canada’s emissions comprised 1.5% of global GHG emissions compared to 26% for China (in 2018). And since 2005, emissions from China increased by a staggering 71.7%. It’s absurd to think that, even if Canada could drive its GHG emissions to zero, there would be any measurable impact on the global climate. And no impact on climate means no improved environmental benefits for future generations.

"Economically, the prime minister’s argument is even less compelling.... According to a study published by the Fraser Institute, implementing a $170 carbon tax would shrink Canada’s economy by 1.8% and produce significant job losses and reduced real income in every province....

"Trudeau government policies, including the carbon tax and imposition of federal bills C-48 (which bans large oil tankers carrying crude oil off British Columbia’s north coast, limiting access to Asian markets) and C-69 (which introduces subjective criteria including the 'social impact' of energy investment into the evaluation process of major energy projects), combined with impending regulations such as GHG emission caps, are contributing to a collapse in business investment and ultimately economic stagnation in Canada. Per-person gross domestic product (GDP) — a broad measure of living standards — ... stood in 2014 at $58,162, which is $51 higher than at the end of 2023 (inflation-adjusted). In other words, living standards for Canadians have declined.

"Capital investment, which contributes to economic growth and higher living standards, is also declining. A 2021 Fraser Institute study showed that the growth rate of overall capital expenditures in Canada slowed substantially from 2005 to 2019 and the growth rate from 2015 to 2019 was lower than in virtually any other period since 1970.... [F]rom 2010 to 2019, Canada’s investment growth rate dropped substantially below that of the United States and many other developed countries. Corporate investment in Canada as a share of total investment was also the lowest among a set of developed countries from 2005 to 2019.

"Far from delivering environmental or economic benefits for Canadians 'one generation from now' or 'two generations from now,' Trudeau’s policies have thrown serious shadows over the future economic prospects of Canadians, who will find themselves less well-off and less economically capable of adapting to predicted climate risks, whether manmade or natural."

Read more: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/federal-carbon-tax-hike-will-hurt-future-generations

Estimated Impacts of a $170 Carbon Tax in Canada | Fraser Institute | March 21, 2021:

Protests across Canada over carbon tax hike

Canadians mount Freedom Convoy-styled protests against carbon tax True North | Rachel Emmanuel:

April 1, 2024 - "Thousands of Canadians from across the country are gathering along highways, provincial borders, and Liberals MPs’ offices in a Freedom Convoy-styled protest against the federal carbon tax. The tax rose to 17 cents per litre of gasoline, 21 cents per litre of diesel and 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas on Monday, Apr. 1.

"Event organizers at various locations told True North that demonstrators are prepared to stay for weeks in hopes of swaying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to remove his costly tax. 'We’re going to be camping out. There’s no departure date, let’s put it that way,' organizer Elliot McDavid told True North at the Calgary protest. The demonstration saw around 400 attendees by Monday morning, with more arriving each minute....

“'A week, two, three — whatever it takes,' organizer Miranda Courts told True North at the protest in Loydminister along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Around 500 attendees showed up there to protest the tax. That demonstration featured a pancake breakfast, coffee, and a warming shack.

"Demonstrators at the Nova Scotia–New Brunswick border succeeded in slowing traffic to a near standstill, according to the RCMP. Hundreds of cars and trucks lined both sides of the highway, with the RCMP eventually closing the road and diverting traffic to a detour. 

"Another 30 protesters picketed Ontario Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell’s office.... Another several hundred demonstrators arrived in Ottawa and chanted “freedom” in French and English. The demonstration took place on Parliament Hill and included speeches. 

"Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told supporters last month that he wanted them to organize protests at the officers of Liberal and New Democrat members of Parliament to pressure them into stopping the carbon tax hike.... The Conservatives introduced a non-confidence motion in the government over the tax, but it was blocked by all of the other parties in the House of Commons. Poilievre [was] set to host his own 'spike the hike' rally in Nanaimo, B.C. Monday evening."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2024/04/01/convoy-styled-anti-carbon-protests/

Cross-country protests greet carbon tax increase | CBC News: The National | April 1, 2024:

Carbon taxes are a perversion of market theory

Carbon taxes are a perversion of free-market economic theory | Financial Post | Terence Corcoran:

November 3, 2023 - "Canada would not be embroiled in a political carbon tax crisis today were it not for the background endorsement of economists who argue that a carbon tax is a principled market mechanism that can be used to correct a 'market failure' such as climate change. In the words of a now-famous 2019 statement signed by 45 market-oriented economists, including former U.S. Federal Reserve chairs Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, a carbon tax is a sound market-based solution to a global problem. 'By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future.' Since 2019, the statement has been signed by more than 3,600 economic thinkers and is described by the Climate Leadership Council as 'The largest public statement of economists in history'....

"The 'invisible hand' mentioned in the economic statement gives the impression that a carbon tax is aligned with the ideas that enlightenment economist Adam Smith and others — from liberals to neo-liberals to libertarians — have championed over government control and planning. The economists’ endorsement of invisible hand principles in the context of a carbon tax is, at minimum, misleading. The imposition of a carbon price by government — such as Canada’s $170 a tonne target — is nothing but a government price-fixing scheme. 

"In a market economy, prices are not the starting line for economic activity nor are they the means to control supply and demand as implied by proponents of carbon taxation. Prices are the end point of economic activity. In a market economy prices are the product of supply and demand based on the multitude of individual and corporate choices that lead to final transaction prices. The dynamic of supply and demand determines price, a process that takes place outside the knowledge and thought processes of the economic actors. 

“'Every money price of a good on the market, is determined by the supply and demand schedules of the individual buyers and sellers, and their action tends to establish a uniform equilibrium price on the market at the point of intersection.' So wrote the late Murray N. Rothbard in Man, Economy and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles. Another giant of free-market economics, Friedrich Hayek, described the invisible hand process in his 1946 essay “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” In a market economy, no one person or power determines pricing. 

It is more than a metaphor to describe the price system as a kind of machinery for registering change, or a system of telecommunications which enables individual producers to watch merely the movement of a few pointers, as an engineer might watch the hands of a few dials, in order to adjust their activities to changes of which they may never know more than is reflected in the price movement.

"Using tax power to set a price to force a market movement stands the economic system on its head and gets the process backwards. With carbon taxation, the state is imposing a visible hand in an extreme and unprecedented way. For one thing, no participant in a market economy driven by the invisible hand would or could raise prices so as to ultimately reduce demand to zero.... 

"The idea that high and rising carbon prices can be used to remove carbon from the economy runs up against the fact that carbon-based fossil fuels are currently part of the foundation for most economic activity. They are essential today, to the point where industry and consumers cannot do without them. They are, as economists say, price inelastic. A doubling or even a quadrupling via taxation will not end demand for fossil fuels without killing economic activity. According to the 3,600 economist backers of carbon taxation, this little problem can be overcome by returning all the revenue from the carbon taxes to taxpayers 'to maximize the fairness and political viability of a rising carbon tax.' The Trudeau Liberal plan for Canada follows that advice.

"There is nothing invisible about carbon taxes. They are a perversion of free-market economic theory. We should bite the visible hand and axe the tax."

Read more: https://financialpost.com/opinion/carbon-taxes-perversion-free-market-economic-theory

Carbon tax making life unaffordable for Canadians: Sask. premier | Power & Politics | CBC News | March 28, 2024:

Economists deny carbon tax impacts inflation

Canada's carbon tax "has a negligible impact on inflation" claim 200 Canadian economists in an open letter defending the tax. However, their only citation for this claim is a flawed Bank of Canada analysis.

Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star, March 28, 2024.

Economists' support for federal carbon tax seems like a lot of hot air | Toronto Sun | Brian Lilley:

March 27, 2024 - "The headline made it sound pretty clear, 'Economists defend Liberals’ carbon price as political rhetoric heats up.' A story under a headline like that might make you think there was a hefty defence laid out for the carbon tax being imposed and soon to be increased by the Trudeau Liberals. You’d be wrong if you read the story, but you’d also be wrong to think there was a robust defence of the carbon tax in the open letter from economists that it was based upon....

“The letter ... address[es] what they said were five myths about the carbon tax. Given that this letter is from economists, it’s the portion that discusses the impact of the carbon tax that caught my eye. The letter claims that the carbon tax is not affecting inflation and then cites ... a thoroughly debunked claim from the Bank of Canada as proof. 'According to the Bank of Canada, carbon pricing has caused less than 1/20th of Canada’s inflation in the past two years,' the letter says. 

"This claim was made by bank governor Tiff Macklem last fall and was widely reported, but never fact-checked by the media. Instead, asking the bank how it got to that figure fell to academic Sylvain Charlebois. Charlebois, the senior director of the Agri-foods Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University who is also known as the 'Food Professor,' asked the bank to explain how it arrived at that claim. Given Charlebois’ interest in food prices and food inflation, the answer was shocking. 

"The Bank of Canada admitted that it only looked at the impact of gasoline, heating oil and natural gas when applied directly to the consumer to arrive at its claim that the carbon tax is responsible for less than 1/20th of Canada’s inflation. That ... fails to take into account the pass-through impact of the tax on consumers.

"A cucumber grow[er] in one of southwestern Ontario’s many greenhouses would have to pay the carbon tax on the CO2 used to grow the cucumber[s]. The trucking company that picked up the cucumber would have to pay the carbon tax on the fuel used to transport the cucumber. The warehouse that stores the cucumber and the store that sells it will both pay the carbon tax on keeping that cuke cool. You will only pay the carbon tax on the gas it takes for you to drive to the store and that is all that the Bank of Canada uses to assess the impact on inflation, not all of the other steps that increase the price. 

"It’s a lazy method for the Bank of Canada and it’s lazier still for these economists to use that as their measurement when claiming to refute myths about the carbon tax.

"Yves Giroux, the parliamentary budget officer, looked at the full impact of the carbon tax — from what we all pay, the lower economic growth, the increase in prices, the increased amount of GST we pay — and arrived at a basic conclusion: Most of us are paying more. 'Once you factor in the rebate, but also the economic impacts, the majority of households will see a negative impact as a result of the carbon tax,' Giroux told a House of Commons committee last week.

"That’s not something these economists mention. Instead, they spend more time repeating government talking points and sounding like Liberal MPs than they do in providing evidence for their claims."

Read more: https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/economists-announce-support-for-carbon-tax-but-not-the-truth

Trudeau's Carbon Tax Drives Inflation | Kyle Seeback | February 27, 2024:

Trudeau government cuts carbon tax rebates to small business

Canada's Trudeau government is cutting carbon tax rebates to small business, even though it has never been paying them anyway. 

Government to cut small business carbon tax rebate by $500 million in 2024 to fund higher consumer rebates | Canadian Federation of Independent Business:

February 22, 2024 – "New documents published by the federal government ... reveal that Ottawa is reducing the amount of carbon tax revenue it plans to rebate to small and medium-sized businesses from 9% to 5% starting in 2024. Meanwhile, the amount allocated for consumers and Indigenous governments will increase to 93% and 2%, respectively. 

“'Given the giant carbon tax rate increase planned for April 1, small business would have received $500 million more in rebates than is currently scheduled,' said [Canadian Federation of Independent Business] CFIB president Dan Kelly. This represents a 44% reduction in the rebate allocation for SMEs going forward. Last week’s announcement proved that the federal government has paid for the increased rural rebate and a doubling of the amount earmarked to Indigenous governments by cutting the share for small business. 

“'And it is important to keep in mind that despite the fact that the federal government has been collecting carbon taxes since 2019, there is still no system set up to return a nickel to small businesses,' Kelly added. In fact, the federal government confirmed last week that it still owes small businesses over $2.5 billion in carbon tax rebates collected over the past five years. 

“'While consumers are getting more in rebates, small businesses just keep getting the short end of the stick,' Kelly said. 'This is unacceptable and a slap in the face to all small firms, especially as CFIB estimates SMEs actually pay 40% of carbon tax revenue.'   

"To make matters even more unfair, the past $2.5 billion and the ongoing 5% share for small business are intended to go only to emissions-intensive, trade-exposed businesses even though all small firms pay the tax.... 

"While it is clear Canadians will debate the future of the carbon tax itself in the next federal election, CFIB is calling on government for immediate action, including plans to:  

• Immediately return the $2.5 billion owed to all small businesses, not just certain sectors.  
• Scrap the plan to reduce the SME share of carbon tax revenue from 9 to 5% in 2024 and rebate it annually.  
• Increase the share of rebates dedicated to SMEs to 40% over time. 
• Pass Bill C-234 as originally proposed to exempt natural gas and propane used for on-farm activities, including grain drying and heating farm buildings. 
• Freeze the carbon tax at its current level. 
• Exempt all heating fuels, including natural gas. 

"'Small businesses are rightfully owed what Ottawa has promised them in carbon tax revenues. It’s time for Ottawa to stop playing a shell game and fix the broken carbon tax system,' said Corinne Pohlmann, Executive Vice-President of Advocacy at CFIB. 'The upcoming federal budget is an opportunity for the government to provide substantial financial relief to small firms to offset the tremendous costs the carbon tax system has imposed on small businesses during a particularly challenging time.'

"Small businesses can add their voice to CFIB’s fight for fairness by signing a CFIB petition....

"The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 97,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca." 

Read more: https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/media/government-to-cut-small-business-carbon-tax-rebate-by-500-million-in-2024-to-fund-higher-consumer-rebates

Sign petition: https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/petition/national-petition-carbon-tax

Ottawa sitting on $2.5 billion in carbon tax rebates owed to small business since 2019: CFIB | Canada's Podcast | February 8, 2024: 

Canadian premiers oppose carbon tax hike

Premiers of seven of the eight affected provinces have come out in opposition to the Trudeau government's planned April 1 carbon tax increase.  

Maritimes beg Trudeau for more carbon tax carve outs despite relief not afforded Westerners | Western Standard | Shaun Polczer:

March 12, 2024 - "Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey and PEI boss Dennis King are both begging Ottawa to consider delaying the proposed April 1 increase to $80 per tonne.... In an almost Dickensian letter to the PM, Furey on Monday begged.... 'I respectfully request that you consider pausing the implementation of the April 1st carbon tax increase, at least until inflation stabilizes, interest rates lower and related economic pressures on the cost of living sufficiently cool' 

"It comes days after PEI Premier Dennis King ... wrote in his own missive to the PM that the 23% increase next month would hurt 'Islanders' by adding 3.5 cents to the cost of a litre of gasoline and bringing the total to 23 cents.... 

"New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs ... joined in the chorus of Atlantic premiers although he was more forceful in his condemnation.... 'Since imposing his carbon tax six years ago, New Brunswickers have been subject to brutal increases every single year. These make the cost of everyday items such as food, fuel and groceries more expensive, driving up the cost of living for everyone,' he said. 'Even if he won’t cancel the tax outright, he can stop his plan to impose even more harm on New Brunswickers and Canadians by halting the planned tax increase.'"

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/atlantic/newfoundland-pei-beg-trudeau-for-more-carbon-tax-carve-outs-despite-relief-not-afforded-westerners/53059

Trudeau calls out 'short-term thinker' politicians as some premiers urge him to drop carbon price hike | CBC News | Catharine Tunney March 13, 2024 - 

"As a growing number of premiers urge the federal government to scrap an upcoming increase to the federal carbon tax, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed back on what he called 'short-term thinker' politicians and defended his government's deeply divisive policy ... during a news conference in Calgary Wednesday.... [M[ost premiers have called on the government to either scrap the program or pause the increase scheduled for April 1.... He's also facing attacks from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said he'll force multiple votes in Parliament next week to stop what he's calling 'Trudeau's April Fools' tax hike'....

"Trudeau showed no signs of bowing to pressure from the premiers or Poilievre. 'That's an easy thing for short-term thinker politicians to say, "Oh, we'll get rid of the price." They don't talk about the fact that they're also going to get rid of that cheque, the Canada carbon rebate, that puts more money in the pockets of the vast majority of Canadians,' he said....

"At the beginning of next month, the carbon price is scheduled to increase from $65 to $80 per tonne. The federal policy — which includes both a tax on fossil fuels and rebates paid directly to households — was introduced by the Liberal government in 2019 and is designed as a financial incentive to encourage people and businesses to cut their consumption of fossil fuels and transition to greener forms of energy. Canadians living in the eight provinces with the federal carbon tax receive quarterly rebate payments which vary depending on the province and the size of household.

"On Tuesday, Liberal Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey shared an open letter to the prime minister saying that while his government is 'deeply invested in environmental sustainability,' the scheduled increase will add to residents' financial burdens. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston also wrote to Trudeau urging him 'cancel the carbon tax before any more financial damage is done.'

"So far, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan — which says it will no longer remit the money it owes for the carbon price on natural gas, as required by law — Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have weighed in, calling for Trudeau to pause or cancel the coming increase. British Columbia, Quebec and the Northwest Territories follow their own carbon-pricing mechanisms ... and are exempt from the federal program."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-premiers-carbon-tax-1.7142445

Premiers call on Trudeau to cancel spring carbon tax increase | CBC News: The National | March 13, 2024:

Saskatchewan gov't stops remitting carbon tax

On February 29 the Saskatchewan government, which has already stopped collecting federal carbon tax on home heating, announced it would not be remitting that share of the tax to the federal government. 

Sask Minister walks in Ottawa snow and refuses to pay carbon tax | Western Standard | Shaun Polczer:

February 29, 2024 - "[O]n February 29, ... Saskatchewan’s Crown Corporations Minister Dustin Duncan stood in front of a sleet covered Parliament building to announce the province wouldn’t be remitting the province’s share of Ottawa’s carbon tax ahead of a March 1 deadline.

"'I took a walk in the rain and made an important decision about the carbon tax,” Duncan said in a recorded message posted on Twitter ('X') on Thursday, in an oblique reference to Trudeau Sr.’s famous ‘walk in the snow' declaration on February 29, 1984. 'Today, I’m announcing that in addition to not collecting the carbon tax on SaskEnergy bills, the Government of Saskatchewan will not be remitting the federal carbon tax on natural gas Saskatchewan families use to heat their homes,' he stated. 'This is a decision that we do not take lightly and we recognize that it may come with consequences.'

"Saskatchewan officially stopped collecting the federal carbon tax on home heating effective January 1, in response to the Liberal government’s decision to exempt home heating oil in Atlantic Canada. But it wasn’t clear if it would remit the outstanding funds for the month to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by the March 1 deadline.... Saskatchewan government officials, including Premier Scott Moe, proclaimed they would be willing to go to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 'carbon jail' for withholding the funds.... [T]he Saskatchewan government on February 21 declared itself the province’s ‘singular’ natural gas distributor in order to indemnify individual SaskEnergy employees from penalty.

"The Saskatchewan treasury claims the move has saved families $400 thus far in 2024 and shaved nearly a full percentage point off the province’s inflation rate, which stands as one of the lowest in the country."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/business/sask-minister-walks-in-ottawa-snow-and-refuses-to-pay-carbon-tax/52791

Saskatchewan won't remit carbon tax to Ottawa, defying federal law | Power & Politics | CBC News | :

Guilbeault brands Moe ‘immoral’ for breaking carbon law; vows to take unspecified ‘measures’ | Western Standard | Shaun Polczer:

March 5, 2024 - "Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe may be headed for the carbon clink.... Barely a week after the province said it would refuse to collect — or remit — the share of federal carbon tax on home heating bills, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault branded the Saskatchewan leader’s actions 'immoral' and “unspeakable' ... even 'criminal,' vowing unspecified 'measures' to enforce compliance.

“'If Premier Scott Moe decides that he wants to start breaking laws and not respecting federal laws, then measures will have to be taken,' Guilbeault said at a press conference in response to a question from a reporter. 'We can't let that happen. What if somebody tomorrow decides that they don’t want to respect other federal laws, criminal laws? What would happen then if a prime minister, a premier of a province, would want to do that?' he went on. 'It's irresponsible and it's frankly immoral on his part. We can have disagreements about things like climate change, but to be so reckless is unspeakable, really.'

"Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson [has] threatened to withhold carbon tax rebates for Saskatchewan residents that would amount to around $1,600 for a family of four. But Moe said withholding the tax saved them $400 In January alone. However those threats were nothing compared to Guilbeault’s comments, which struck an ominous tone that he may indeed be prepared to arrest provincial politicians on criminal charges.

"It’s a dramatic escalation that confirms the worst fears of politicians such as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith who has long insisted the Liberal government’s carbon policies could result in prison for government and other officials who refuse to comply with its clean energy regulations. Smith has vowed to indemnify officials and power producers to increase baseline natural gas fired power on the Alberta grid, which is what the Saskatchewan government essentially did last month when it declared itself the sole natural gas distributor in the province to protect SaskEnergy employees for not collecting the tax."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/alberta/guilbeault-brands-moe-immoral-for-breaking-carbon-law-vows-to-take-unspecified-measures/52885 

Manitoba premier renews call for carbon tax relief

Manitoba's NDP premier Wab Kinew, who has previously called for a carbon tax exemption on all forms of home heating, has again called on the Canadian government to provide his province with carbon tax relief. 

Manitoba wants carbon tax carve out as it suspends gasoline taxes | Western Standard | Shaun Polczer:

January 10, 2024 - "The newly-elected NDP premier of Manitoba is calling on Ottawa to provide his province with carbon tax relief even as his government moves to suspend provincial fuel taxes. In an interview with Global News on the weekend, Wab Kinew said Manitoba deserves a break owing to its 'credible path' to net-zero. 

“'I think that there’s an argument that Manitoba is maybe one of the strongest cases you could make, that the price on carbon should be revisited in our jurisdiction,” Kinew told The West Block host Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired on January 7. Although 97% of the province’s electricity comes from hydroelectricity, about 60% of its home heating is with natural gas.... 

"It comes after the federal government in October suspended the carbon tax on home heating oil, which mainly benefits Atlantic Canada. Since then, others including Alberta, Saskatchewan and even Ontario and the Northwest Territories have called for the tax to be eliminated from heating bills even though Ottawa has declined to allow more exemptions. 

[In November all Canadian provincial premiers, including Kinew, unanimoursly called on the federal government to remove the carbon tax on all forms of home heating (see video).]

"Saskatchewan has even gone as far as to stop collecting the tax via its SaskEnergy subsidiary even at the the treat of being criminally charged.

"Manitoba is only one of three jurisdictions in Canada where the federal carbon tax applies to both consumers and industry, along with the Yukon and Nunavut. Manitoba is also the latest to implement a six-month fuel tax holiday which came into effect January 1 that is expected to save drivers about 14 cents per litre at the pumps. Ironically, it comes as the Alberta government reinstated its own fuel tax.

“'I think our province has a really strong case to make that during this time where we’re dealing with inflation, we’re dealing with the cost of living, that we should get some consideration, we should get a little bit of help,' Kinew told Stephenson."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/business/manitoba-wants-carbon-tax-carve-out-as-it-suspends-gasoline-taxes/51559

Kinew makes it explicit, asks Ottawa to remove carbon tax from natural gas home heating | CBC Manitoba | November 7, 2023:

 

Higher taxes coming to Canada in 2024

Here's how much more Canadians will be paying in federal income tax hikes | National Post (stress added): 

January 3, 2024 - "Nearly every Canadian will pay higher federal income taxes in 2024, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). The federally incorporated, not-for-profit citizen’s group released its annual report on Tuesday highlighting the varied tax changes across Canada.... Citing data from the Fraser Institute, the report notes that the average Canadian family pays 46.1 per cent of its budget in taxes after adding up income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes and all other taxes.

• In 2024, the maximum pensionable earnings subject to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) tax will increase, resulting in higher CPP contributions for both employers and employees. They will each pay $3,867, marking a $113 increase from the previous year for earnings of $68,500 or more.
• Additionally, a new CPP2 tax will be introduced and applied to earnings between $68,500 and $73,200, with a maximum tax amount of $188. For those earning $73,200 or above, the total CPP contribution (including CPP and CPP2) will rise to approximately $4,055, an overall increase of $301....
• In 2024, both the Employment Insurance (EI) tax rate and maximum insurable earnings in Canada will increase. Employees will pay $1,049 and employers $1,469 for EI. This is a rise of $47 for employees and $66 for employers, for those earning $63,200 or more.... Consequently, total federal payroll taxes (CPP and EI) will amount to $5,104 for workers earning $73,200 or above in 2024, while employers will be on the hook for $5,524.
• Canada’s federal carbon tax will rise from $65 to $80 per tonne on April 1, 2024, increasing the carbon tax rate per litre of gas. This means a higher cost for fueling vehicles, with a family filling a 70-litre minivan expected to pay about $12.32 more per fill-up. Most provinces and territories will be subject to this increased rate, except Quebec. The government suggests a net benefit for families with rebates, but a Parliamentary Budget Officer report shows the carbon tax will cost the average household between $377 and $911 in 2024-25, even after the rebates.
• A second carbon tax for fuel producers, introduced last year, could further raise fuel prices if producers don’t meet the requirements of the regulations. Citing the PBO’s analysis, the second carbon tax is expected to increase the price of gas by up to 17 cents per litre and cost the average household between $384 and $1,157 annually by 2030....
• Beginning on April 1, 2024, Canadians will pay more for beer, wine and spirits. The 'alcohol escalator tax' will increase excise taxes in line with inflation. The escalator tax will see a 4.7 per cent rise in federal excise tax on these beverages, resulting in an estimated additional cost of about $100 million to taxpayers for the 2024-25 period. Per CTF, taxes already account for about half of the price of beer, 65 per cent of the price of wine and more than three quarters of the price of spirits.
• Introduced last November, Canada’s new Digital Services Tax (DST) legislation is aimed at large online companies that host and generate marketplaces, social media platforms and online advertising revenue, like Google and Facebook. A previous PBO estimate found that DST will cost taxpayers $1.2 billion in 2024, but that revenue estimate depends on when the tax is implemented. Consumers should also expect to pay higher prices due to DST."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/news/2024-canada-federal-tax-increases

Brace for impact: more federal tax hikes in 2024: Canadian Taxpayers Federation | Canada's Podcast | January 1, 2024:

Ontario First Nations sue over carbon tax

Ontario First Nations leaders are asking the Federal Court to exempt their communities from Canada's federal carbon tax.

First Nations sue over 'discriminatory' carbon tax — will Guilbeault resign? | National Post | Tasha Kheiriddin

December 1, 2023 - "A month after the federal government exempted home heating oil from its punitive carbon tax, another group is demanding a carve-out — and putting the government in a thorny position. The Chiefs of Ontario and Attawapiskat First Nation have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over what they allege is 'discriminatory and anti-reconciliatory application of the Greenhouse Gas and Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA)' to First Nations. 

"Their main arguments resemble those advanced by rural communities, notably a lack of options when it comes to fuel for things like transportation or industry. The twist is that while non-indigenous taxpayers get 90 per cent of charges refunded through tax rebates, this is not the case for First Nations members, because property and income on reserve are tax exempt, and most Indigenous people do not use the income tax system. Faced with this discrepancy, Ottawa promised to return 0.7 per cent of the total charges collected in Ontario to that province’s First Nations, but the chiefs say this number is arbitrary and inadequate.... 

"The chiefs are now demanding a judicial review of this policy — something they say would have been unnecessary if federal officials had bothered to engage with them.The chiefs’ claim is accompanied by an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in which they characterize the fuel charge cost to First Nations citizens as .'another cash grab for Canada, removing several million dollars a year from those least responsible for the climate crisis'....

"Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault  is now in the embarrassing position of defending a tax that hurts Indigenous people, while having given non-indigenous Canadians a break on their heating oil — all for political reasons. It also puts the minister in a no-win situation because of his pledge that, 'As long as I’m the environment minister, there will be no more exemptions to carbon pricing.' In other words: If the government doesn’t give First Nations a break, it’s breaking its promise on reconciliation. But if it does give them an exemption, the minister is breaking his promise not to allow additional carve-outs and should resign."

The chiefs’ lawsuit is just the latest assault on the government’s green energy policies. Last week, the government of Saskatchewan brought in Bill 151, which exempts SaskEnergy officials from federal punishment for defying federal law and gives the energy minister the power not to pay carbon tax. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has vowed that on Jan. 1, 2024 the Crown corporation will not remit carbon tax on home heating fuel to Ottawa.... 

And then there’s Alberta. On Monday, Premier Danielle Smith’s government introduced a resolution that instructs governments and provincial utilities entities to ignore the federal government’s proposed Clean Electricity Regulations when they come into force “to the extent legally permissible.” The regulations would require Canada’s electricity grid to generate net zero emissions by 2035 — something Smith says is both impossible and undesirable in her oil-producing jurisdiction.

"With the carbon tax bleeding from a thousand cuts, and Canadians increasingly opposed to it, you would think the government would do the sensible thing, and put it on the scrapheap where it belongs. Then again, voters might just do that for them."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/tasha-kheiriddin-first-nations-sue-over-discriminatory-carbon-tax-will-guilbeault-resign

Chiefs of Ontario launch judicial review of Carbon Tax | APTN News | December 5,2023:

SK gov't won't collect carbon tax on home heating

Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe says that, if the Trudeau government does not exempt all home heating bills from its its carbon tax by January 1, provincial utilities will stop collecting it. 

Moe to stop collecting carbon tax on home heating Jan. 1 if Trudeau doesn't give Sask break | Western Standard | Christopher Oldcorn:| Christopher Oldcorn:

October 30, 2023 - "Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the province will stop collecting the carbon tax on home heating starting January 1 unless the Trudeau government gives a carbon tax break similar to what Atlantic Canada was given last week.... Moe published a video with his tweet explaining his reasons.... 

“'Prime Minister Trudeau announced a three-year exemption on the carbon tax for home heating. This exemption is primarily for families in Atlantic Canada, where heating oil is used in 40% of their homes,” said Moe. 'And making this announcement, the prime minister effectively destroyed two of the myths that he has created about the carbon tax. 

First is that the carbon tax is affordable because most Canadians receive more back in rebates than they pay in carbon tax. If that were true, why would he need to remove it as an affordability measure? On home heating oil for families in Atlantic Canada?

And the second myth is that it's a tax being applied fairly in all parts of the country based on a set rate per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. Home heating oil is used primarily in one part of the country, and it has higher greenhouse gas emissions than other heat sources like natural gas, that is used in most Saskatchewan homes.... 

"Moe attacked how Trudeau runs the country after the Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings said over the weekend that if the rest of Canada wants a carbon tax rebate, they should elect more Liberals. 'And now, a federal minister has said if people a West want a carbon tax exemption, we should elect more liberals,' said Moe. 'This is no way to run a country.... 

"'I am calling on the federal government to offer the same carbon tax exemption to Saskatchewan families by extending it to all forms of home heating, not just heating oil. It's only fair to other Saskatchewan and Canadian families,” said Moe. 'Hopefully, that exemption will be provided soon. But if not effective January the first, Sask Energy will stop collecting and submitting the carbon tax on natural gas, effectively providing Saskatchewan residents with the very same exemption that the federal government is giving heating oil in Atlantic Canada.'”
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/breaking-moe-to-stop-collecting-carbon-tax-on-home-heating-jan-1-if-trudeau-doesnt-give-sask-break/49808

Sask gov’t to stop collecting carbon tax on home electric heating | Western Standard | Scott Moe:

November 30, 2023 - "Premier Scott Moe said the Saskatchewan government is making the carbon tax exemption on home heating broader to include electrical heating as well. Moe had previously announced the government instructed SaskEnergy to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas bills starting January 1 unless the federal government extends the carbon tax exemption to cover all forms of home heating. The provincial government has also introduced legislation intending to remove the carbon tax from SaskPower bills for homes heated with electricity.... 

"Thursday, Moe announced his government plans to eliminate the carbon tax on electric home heating in the upcoming year if the federal government does not extend the exemption. 'Our government was able to make the decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas because you, the Saskatchewan people, own the natural gas utility, SaskEnergy,' Moe said in the video. 'Well, we also own the electrical utility and that’s why our government has decided that SaskPower will also stop collecting the carbon tax on electric heat effective January 1'.... Moe explained the government will need to determine who relies on electric heating and estimate the portion of their power bills that goes towards heating."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/sask-govt-to-stop-collecting-carbon-tax-on-home-electric-heating/50656

Saskatchewan's Response to Atlantic Canada's Carbon Tax Exemption | Premier Scott Moe | October 30, 2023:

Liberals block farm carbon tax relief bill in Senate

The Trudeau government failed to stop Bill C-234, which provides a limited carbon tax exemption for farmers, when it passed the House of Commons in March. Now they are using their "independent" Senators to keep it from being voted on in the Senate.

Liberals face another carbon tax crisis in Senate vote on farm exemptions | Calgary Herald | Don Braid 

November 14, 2023 - "The federal Liberals created their own mess over the carbon tax, and it gets worse by the day. A new poll from Abacus Data shows that 72 per cent of Canadians think all forms of home heating fuel should be free of carbon tax.... 60 per cent of respondents are aware that the Liberals exempted heating oil from the tax, a benefit mainly to Atlantic Canada. People generally agree with the tax break for folks down east. But they also want it for the fuel they use to heat their own homes,... 

"The Liberals insisted there would be no more 'carve-outs' for any sector when their tax castle began to totter. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed it won’t happen. Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said there will be no more carve-outs as long as he’s in the job. 

"Along comes Bill C-234 — a genuine crisis for the Liberals, because it’s all about another reasonable carve-out. Now in the Senate, C-234 would exempt fuel for grain-drying and heating farm structures from the carbon tax. Many Alberta farmers complain bitterly that the tax is onerous and they have no viable alternatives to natural gas. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has declared a national campaign to force Bill C-234 through the Senate.... The government desperately wants the bill to fail when votes are called, likely next week. 'Independent' senators (mostly named by the Liberals) are under intense pressure to reject the bill.

"This Conservative private member’s bill cruised through the House of Commons in March. It was supported by the Conservatives, New Democrats and even a few Liberals. Bill C-234 wasn’t highly controversial. It moved on to detailed Senate hearings. And then, Newfoundland MP Gudie Hutchings boasted about how Atlantic Liberal MPs and ministers talked the government into removing the tax from heating oil. A little-known bill that affects farm operations suddenly became the latest front in the carbon tax battle....

"Alberta Sen. Paula Simons, a devoted champion of the carbon tax, first decided grain-drying should be exempt because there is no alternative to natural gas. She also concluded that the tax should still apply for heating farm structures. Then came the heating oil fiasco. Simons was shocked. On Oct. 31, she told the Senate: 'Now, how am I, as an Alberta senator, supposed to look Alberta farmers in the face and tell them that I took a principled stand against carbon tax exemptions when the government has pulled the rug right out from under me?.... I’m not even sure how I’m going to vote. I just know that I’m feeling pretty foolish right now, pretty betrayed, and I wish I didn’t. Thank you.' Betrayed. A strong word from a Trudeau appointee to the 'independent' caucus, which is Liberal in all but name.

"Former Conservative senator Doug Black, from Calgary, ... says Bill C-234 'is not a concession to farmers; it’s a very important part of supporting the agriculture industry in the country. It’s close to motherhood. Initially that’s what everybody else thought, too. Then what happened? The prime minister did his deal with Atlantic Canada in respect of home heating oil, and it blew up in his face. Therefore, the bill must be killed. That’s what’s going on'.... 

"The bill will probably be defeated but anger will continue to rise over this regional absolutism. The Liberals deserve a long fall into the trap they set for themselves."

Read more: https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/braid-liberals-carbon-tax-crisis-farm-exemptions

Could there be another carbon tax carve-out for farm heating? | CBC News | November 10, 2023:

Liberals and Bloc vote down carbon tax exemption

With Bloc Quebecois support, Canada's Liberal government has defeated a motion to exempt all forms of home heating from its carbon tax.

Liberals, Bloc Québécois strike down Poilievre's pitch to exempt all home heating from carbon tax | CBC News:| Benjamin Lopez Steven:

November 6, 2023 - "The Liberals and the Bloc Québécois voted Monday to strike down a motion calling on the federal government to extend a carbon tax exemption to all forms of home heating, not just heating oil. The non-binding motion was sponsored by Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said the exemption is divisive and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is engaging in regional favouritism. 

"Speaking outside the House of Commons after the vote, Poilievre said Trudeau has a "carbon tax coalition" with the Bloc Québécois, whom he referred to as 'separatists.' 'He's now signed on with the separatists to divide Canadians into two separate classes: those who will have to pay carbon tax on their home heat, and a small minority who will get a pause from the pain,' he said....

"The New Democrats voted in favour of Poilievre's motion. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he is 'always reluctant to vote alongside the Conservatives in any way" but he also rejects 'the divisive approach of the Liberals.' 

"At a meeting in Halifax on Monday, Canada's premiers said they want fair treatment under the carbon tax. Some went even further; Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said the tax should be eliminated altogether."
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-carbon-tax-heating-1.7019822

MPs debate defeated Conservative motion on carbon tax | cpac | November 6, 2023:

Trudeau in a tailspin as his carbon tax blows up | CTV News | Tom Mulcair: 

November 7, 2023 - "The Liberals have won three consecutive elections posturing on climate change while finger-pointing at the scary Conservatives who were, in their telling, climate change deniers. Problem is, the Liberals have never gotten it done under Trudeau (Paris Accord) any more than they did under Jean Chretien or Paul Martin (Kyoto Protocol). In short, they didn’t have to, they only had to appear to care more than the Conservatives, and the trick was done. People who cared about future generations saw the Liberals as the better option....

"What Trudeau didn’t realize, as he rolled out the most recent increase to his carbon tax last summer, was the depth of the organized resistance among certain Atlantic premiers, the formidable Tim Houston of Nova Scotia, first among them. Average folks were in full revolt. Liberal MPs in the Atlantic region were in panic mode. Trudeau reacted precipitously and with very little thought about possible consequences of his reversal.

"First, he only announced a pause of three years of the carbon tax on home heating oil. That was like putting a sandwich sign on his poor MPs saying: whatever you do, don’t vote for me because we’re still planning to hit you with our carbon tax if we come back. Second, the millions of Canadians who consider the fight against climate change to be a priority were crestfallen. Trudeau had abandoned his key promise to them and they weren’t amused. Third, and this was the easiest part to predict, Canadians who heat with fuels other than furnace oil (like natural gas in Ontario) were furious. Natural gas, much less polluting than furnace oil, was going to be taxed but furnace oil wasn’t? Where was the fairness in that?...

"This has been such a spectacular crash and burn for Trudeau that it’s hard to see how he can ever regain any credibility with Canadians who care about the fight against climate change."

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/tom-mulcair-trudeau-in-a-tailspin-as-his-carbon-tax-blows-up-1.6634338

Trudeau's carbon tax flip-flop backfires

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's attempt to shore up his plummeting support in Atlantic Canada, by offering selective exemptions to his signature carbon tax, appears to have backfired. 

Trudeau drops carbon tax on heating oil, increases rebate for Atlantic Canadians | Western Standard | Christopher Oldcorn:

October 26, 2023 - "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there will be changes to the carbon tax to help people in rural areas and those who use heating oil to heat their homes.... Trudeau made the announcement after the Liberals support in the Atlantic provinces plummeted in recent polls, a traditional stronghold for the Liberals. On Thursday afternoon, Trudeau said people living in rural areas will get a bigger carbon tax rebate. There will be no carbon tax on home heating oil for three years. Also, people who change their heating to use heat pumps will become part of a lucrative rebate program.  

"Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau of 'flipping and flopping on the carbon tax' because the Liberals support plummeted in the polls.... The Liberals have taken a major hit in support in Atlantic Canada since the carbon tax started in July for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick because the provincial programs did not meet the federal carbon tax requirements....

"In 2022, the Conservatives asked the government not to include home heating fuels in the carbon tax, but [that] was struck down when most of the Liberal and NDP MPs voted against it."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/trudeau-drops-carbon-tax-on-heating-oil-increases-rebate-for-atlantic-canadians/49748

Poilievre's Carbon Tax Motion Could Put Trudeau's Leadership on the Line | Epoch Times | Cory Morgan: 

November 3, 2023 - "Opposition motions in the House of Commons are usually little more than political theatre.... The motion being considered in Parliament next week is different.... The motion put forth by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre ... calls for pausing the application of the carbon tax for all forms of home heating in Canada. From a tactical perspective, the motion is a political masterstroke. No matter which way the motion goes, Trudeau loses.

"The irony of this hopeless political trap is that Trudeau set it himself when he carved out a carbon tax exemption for homes using heating oil. Rather than bolstering his flagging support in Atlantic Canada with the move, Trudeau has created a political catastrophe for himself and his party.

"Since becoming prime minister in 2015, Trudeau has made fighting climate change his top focus. He has framed climate change as an existential threat to the world and created an ever-increasing carbon tax as his tool to reduce Canadian emissions. He has stood firm through political opposition and court battles against the tax, and the tax has become his signature policy.... If indeed the carbon tax is essential in saving the world from climate change, how on earth could Trudeau selectively apply it in good conscience? In suspending the tax for a region where he needs to garner political support, he is saying political expediency is more important than fighting climate change.

"The regionally targeted suspension of the carbon tax did manage to unify some regions and political figures that usually don’t agree on many things. Calls for the suspension of the carbon tax on all forms of home heating have erupted across the country, from B.C.’s NDP government to Alberta’s UCP government to Ontario’s PC government. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and former premier Rachel Notley are typically mortal political enemies but they are united in calling for the suspension of the carbon tax on natural gas heat.... Trudeau must be very concerned with the commitment of federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to support Poilievre’s motion to suspend the carbon tax.... 

"The rumblings within the Liberal Party are getting louder. Potential Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney recently sounded as if he was going into campaign mode as he questioned the Liberal path on the carbon tax. Liberal-appointed senator and elder statesman Percy Downe was more blunt as he called for Trudeau’s resignation before the next election. There are many Liberal MPs from regions where natural gas heating is common, and their constituents will not be impressed as their heating costs rise due to the carbon tax while other regions get a pass."

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/cory-morgan-poilievres-carbon-tax-motion-could-put-trudeaus-leadership-on-the-line-5522722

How big of an issue is carbon pricing to voters? | Power Play with Todd van der Heyden | CTV News: