QUESTION PERIOD — Environment and Climate Change
Carbon Tax
April 4, 2019
My question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Today is April 4, 2019. Since April 1, four provinces have gotten good news about the carbon tax. This tax penalizes one category of workers and owners more than others: farmers. No matter their size — whether small, medium or large — farms consume fuel. Other more forward-thinking provinces have come up with specific plans to help farmers, because agriculture remains essential and fundamental to our country. Could the Leader of the Government tell me whether the Government of Canada has planned for an assistance or conversion program for farmers to go along with this tax?
Again, let me thank the honourable senator for his question.
I can only assume — or hope, I guess — that this might be the last question he asks of me, but he’s got another week left. He is also the first senator that I recall — and I’ll reference this perhaps in a more formal way. When he asked me his first question, he taught me the lesson of — at least with this senator — he knows the answer before he asks the question, and I get a grade on the basis of how my answer accords with his understanding of it.
So let me, with some trepidation, answer the question by stating, as the minister responsible did when she was here earlier, that putting a price on carbon is an appropriate and progressive way of dealing with climate change. In the plan that the government has put forward, the framework, there were exemptions and special treatment for the agriculture sector, fishers and the like. Those programs are available.
The honourable senator will also know that there is a return to the provinces for the revenues collected with respect to pricing of carbon. I would be happy to provide the honourable senator references to the specific needs of the four provinces that he cites, but again, the framework legislation is national, and individual provinces have made choices that they will be accountable for.
Thank you. When the law was passed, the government said that it would reimburse Canadian taxpayers to the tune of $300 or $325 a year, which they could receive after producing documentation of fuel expenses. That makes perfect sense. On average, families in the four provinces will pay about $300 or $325 more a year in tax, and I’m not talking about family business owners, but families who use their car to go to work.
On one side, you have Canadians paying $325 more, and on the other, the government giving $325 refunds. How will that help save the environment in Canada?
Again, I want to reiterate it is the view of the Government of Canada, supported by many economists and indeed many in the political class outside of the government’s party, that the best way of dealing with pollution is to put a price on it and manage the pollution pricing regime in a fashion that supports the costs to Canadians of such pricing. That pricing, along with other measures that are part of Canada’s response to climate change, are the best ways of addressing the global commitments that Canada has made, and frankly, the net necessity of dealing with climate change at an increased level of dedication.
The specific framework is nationwide, as I referenced, but there is also provision for those provinces who do not participate in the framework for their citizens to receive funding as is appropriate in the framework. By far, the better solution is for provinces to participate as the vast majority of provinces are.
