QUESTION PERIOD — Environment and Climate Change
Carbon Tax
March 22, 2024
Senator Gold, on April 1, your government plans to again increase the carbon tax — a carbon tax that has contributed absolutely nothing to hitting your environmental targets, yet has contributed to creating inflation and an historic high cost of living that is pummelling young Canadians, such as those who are up here in the gallery, who are having a hard time buying homes. It has created a record number of Canadians lining up at food banks.
When is your government going to stop being ideological about this and understand that this thing isn’t working? When will your government, once and for all, spike the hike, axe the tax and put an end to this April Fool’s joke?
In my tradition, we are accused of answering questions with questions. The government will answer your question, and then I will pose one of my own.
The government has no intention of retreating on putting a price on pollution, which is the most market-sensitive, effective measure to address the existential climate challenge that we and our planet is facing.
My question to you is: When will the opposition stop misleading Canadians? It is clear by third-party validators that the price on pollution has a negligible impact on the price of food, a negligible impact on inflation and it is not, in any sense, contributing to the real problems that many Canadians are, indeed, facing, and properly so. It is wrong and it is regrettable to instrumentalize the suffering of Canadians who are struggling to put food on their table by misleading them with regard to the impacts of the price on pollution, which independent non-government —
Thank you, Senator Gold.
Senator Gold, what’s regrettable is that this government is pummelling young Canadians. This carbon tax is creating inflation. That’s the only thing that has come out of this, and not a single time have you hit any of your environmental targets. That’s the reality.
Even Prime Minister Jean Chrétien always said, “Any good prime minister will acknowledge when it’s time to change and something isn’t working.” Change your mind and understand that this isn’t working.
I’ll ask a simple question for you: Ever since you’ve implemented this carbon tax, how much revenue has your government collected off this carbon tax? Tell Canadians how much and how negligible it is.
One of the things that is important for Canadians to know — and I have said it on many different occasions — is that most of the revenue that has been collected by the carbon tax is returned to Canadians.
A family of four in Alberta will receive, on average, about $1,800 a year. A family of four in Manitoba will receive approximately $1,200 a year. A family in Newfoundland and Labrador will receive close to $1,200. That’s where the money is going. It’s going back into the pockets of Canadians.
