QUESTION PERIOD — Environment and Climate Change
Carbon Tax
March 29, 2023
Senator Gold, another budget, and the Trudeau government still plans to triple the carbon tax that is crushing Canada’s farmers and consumers. It’s set to rise again on Saturday — fittingly, April Fool’s Day.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business tells us that this year, more than $8 billion will be collected from small businesses in carbon tax, and only $35 million of it will be returned in rebates. “The Food Professor,” Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, wrote in a column today that small agri-food business owners are also really feeling the squeeze. He said that, as a result:
. . . by 2030, the carbon tax will potentially become a much more significant driver of food inflation than climate change itself.
Senator Gold, when will this Trudeau government axe the carbon tax so that Canadians can afford to eat?
It is misleading, with all respect, to attribute the challenges of food prices to the carbon tax, to the price on pollution. Most reputable economists understand that this is the most effective market-driven policy tool to reduce and incentivize pollution reduction. Capital markets are telling our oil patch and our creative producers in your province and in others to do so.
This government is committed to the path of continuing to address climate change through a suite of tools, of which the price on pollution is one, while investing in our companies and in our human capital to make sure that Canadians benefit from the transition to the economy of tomorrow.
Senator Gold, one in five Canadians are skipping meals because they simply can’t afford to eat. Prime Minister Trudeau’s inflationary spending is a major factor, and now he is cranking up the carbon tax that hits not only Canadian farmers but also agri-food businesses and will further drive up food prices for every Canadian consumer. Canada’s Food Price Report 2023 predicts that a family of four will spend more than $1,000 extra on food this year, almost $600 more than the GST credit they would get. No matter how you slice it, it just doesn’t cut it.
Last week, Minister Wilkinson actually referred to the carbon tax as an affordability measure. Clearly, he hasn’t lived in Saskatchewan for a very long time.
Why doesn’t the Trudeau government save its pennies-on-the-dollar rebates and instead axe the carbon tax to give Canadians real relief on their grocery bills?
Thank you for your question. This government is very well aware of the rising and sustained high cost of groceries, and that is why it has targeted relief to more than 10 million to 11 million households that need it the most.
It is simply not correct, although perhaps ideologically comforting, to wrap every increase in prices to the price on pollution. We know that supply chains are disrupted by the pandemic. We know that supply chains are disrupted because of the war in Ukraine. We know this is a worldwide phenomenon. We know that grocery chains are being seriously questioned by members in the other place as to what role they may be playing in terms of food prices.
The government’s position is that the price on carbon is an important policy tool to benefit Canadians, not only now but later for our children and our grandchildren.
