QUESTION PERIOD — Natural Resources
Carbon Tax
December 16, 2020
Senator Gold, in last fall’s election campaign, your Trudeau government promised they would cap the carbon tax at $50 a tonne in 2022. In February, you repeated that promise here, stating:
. . . I’ve been advised the government remains committed to the pricing plan . . . to a maximum of $50 per tonne from the year 2022 onwards.
Now the Trudeau government has revealed they will hike the carbon tax by 240%, to a whopping $170 per tonne by 2030. To dodge parliamentary accountability, Prime Minister Trudeau announced this right after the House of Commons adjourned last week — another massive broken Liberal promise delivered just in time for Christmas. How can Canadians trust your government when it continually betrays them?
Senator, thank you for your question. I think the answer to the question is that Canadians can trust this government to deliver on its promise to be serious about fighting climate change. This government’s announcement builds on the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. It puts real meat on the bones, if you will allow that expression, to reach its 2030 Paris targets and eventually get to a net-zero economy in 2050, which is a goal that many leaders and citizens support.
The carbon tax will increase significantly, by $15 per tonne each year until it reaches $170 per tonne by 2030. The plan also spends $15 billion in greenhouse gas reduction. Importantly, as I mentioned in this chamber, when and as the carbon tax increases, Canadians will be receiving quarterly rebates estimated to, in many cases and provinces, make Canadians better off in their pockets than they would be.
This is a concrete example of how Canada will move ahead to remain and become more competitive in a world that is increasingly focused on new technological and greener solutions.
Senator Gold, Western Canadians have had a terrible year. Right after a devastating oil downturn, exacerbated by your Trudeau government’s empty energy policies, a pandemic and economic crisis hit. A huge number of westerners have lost their jobs and are struggling just to make ends meet. A skyrocketing carbon tax will drive up the cost of everything, from gas to groceries, from home heating to the cost of flights.
For farmers in my province of Saskatchewan, an increased carbon tax will hike their cost of doing business because it will cost more to dry grain and carry their agricultural products to market. Meanwhile, increased trucking prices also mean higher prices for consumer products, and farmers are squeezed at both ends.
Senator Gold, on Monday you said, “. . . there will be a steady increase in the carbon tax until we reach our targets.” What is your target; sticking it to the West?
Thank you for your question, senator. We all know, and the government knows as well, that it has been a difficult year for all Canadians, but certainly those in the agricultural sector. You are right to point out the challenges that grain farmers have experienced and will continue to experience because of the cost of drying grain, and the government is aware of this.
This is not a question of sticking it to the West. On the contrary, this is a question of supporting industries in the West and everywhere else to transition, as many innovative companies in Alberta, in your province and across this country aspire to do.
With regard to the West, notwithstanding the magnitude of the increase in carbon taxes — an approach supported by economists around the world, conservative and more progressive economists alike — it is estimated that by the time 2030 rolls around, which is part of the way towards the internationally set 2050 targets, a family of four in Alberta will get about $3,240 in rebates. So this is designed to help those families cushion whatever increases there are, in prices at the pump.
