Morneau tested on carbon tax

FINANCE MINISTER PRESSED TO REVEAL TRUE COST FOR FAMILIES

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre repeatedly tried to squeeze answers out of Finance Minister Bill Morneau during a marathon Commons session Tuesday night that featured a barrage of questions on the potential costs of the federal carbon tax for Canadian families.

Poilievre was the first political rival to get a crack at Morneau during the special session, which lasted several hours.

Opponents have been keen to crack the minister’s message-track veneer. On Tuesday, their attempts included trying to expose what the government’s carbon pricing plan will cost an average Canadian household.

Morneau responded to the early flurry by saying those looking for specific net costs from Ottawa’s plan will have to ask for numbers from some of the provincial and territorial governments.

The federal government, he noted, will provide provinces with a backstop if they decide not to introduce a carbon-pricing plan of their own.

Under that approach, Ottawa will return the revenues to those provinces, Morneau said. From there, he said the provincial governments will be free to decide whether to reduce taxes for their citizens and by how much.

“So, there is a real cost but only a potential refund to the individual taxpayer,” Poilievre said in response to Morneau’s answer, before repeating his question.

“What will be the real, original cost that an average Canadian family would pay in carbon taxes when the minister’s proposal is fully implemented?”

Morneau said about 85 per cent of Canadians already live in a jurisdiction with a carbon pricing regime. He named British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec as provinces with carbon pricing plans — and he stressed they all have strong economies.

He also offered an example. Alberta, which also has a carbon levy, will provide families of four with income of up to $95,000 with an estimated net benefit of $40 in 2018 after the provincial rebate, he said.

“To the extent, the provinces decide to give that revenue back to citizens they will be able to reduce taxes,” Morneau said.

Poilievre got the ball rolling earlier in the day during question period, accusing the government of an ongoing “carbon tax cover-up,” refusing to say how much more families can expect to pay for everything from gasoline to home heating to groceries as a result of the measure.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna fielded that one, accusing the Conservatives of denying both the existence of climate change, the cost it is having from the impacts of major weather events, and the economic opportunity it poses in fostering growth in clean technology.

“Canadians know that polluting is not free; it is having an impact right now,” McKenna said.

“Canadians are paying billions of dollars in insurance costs, but there is also a huge economic opportunity. Since members of the party opposite like talking about jobs, then maybe they should get on the bandwagon, because there is a $23-trillion opportunity in clean growth.”

She did not, however, ever produce any specifics on the government’s understanding of what it will cost the average Canadian family.