UCP not giving up carbon tax fight
The UCP closed out 2019 by reiterating their goal to quash the federal carbon tax, which took effect in Alberta on New Year’s Day.
At a Tuesday morning news conference, Alberta Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer said the province will continue fighting the tax, which puts a price on greenhouse gas-emitting fuels.
“This is the jurisdictional space of Alberta. We don’t concede that lightly,” Schweitzer told reporters.
“We’re not willing to cave on this. We’re not just going to roll over to the federal government.”
The province recently challenged the tax in the Court of Appeal of Alberta, arguing that the Trudeau government’s imposition of the tax represents a constitutional overstep into what should be provincial jurisdiction. Federal lawyers argued that Ottawa has the right to impose a levy on emissions because climate change is a national concern. The court reserved its decision, with a ruling expected in the new year.
The governments of Saskatchewan and Ontario also brought a carbon tax challenge to their top courts, but each lost. They’re appealing the decisions to the Supreme Court of Canada in March, and Schweitzer says Alberta will also be there if its appeal fails.
Schweitzer said he’s optimistic about the province’s chances in court, adding that he was “encouraged by the questions the court was asking.”
But NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt argued the court challenge is doomed to fail, making it a waste of time and money.
“The UCP government should spend more time focused on the job of getting Albertans back to work and less time wasting public money on pricey lawyers playing political games that he knows will fail,” Schmidt said in a statement.
The federal tax starts at $20 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, increasing to $30 on April 1 and eventually rising to $50 by 2022. It replaces the previous provincial tax, which the NDP put into effect at the start of 2017. That tax was repealed by the UCP as their first act in office.
The new federal tax will carry a similar cost to consumers as the former provincial levy. Drivers will pay 4.4 cents more per litre of gas and, according to natural gas usage estimates from ATCO Energy, an average household will see bills rise by $173 in 2020.
But the new tax also comes with a considerable annual rebate. According to the Government of Canada, an average Alberta household will receive a rebate of $880 if it claims it on its 2020 tax return, with higher rebates for those living in rural areas.
Schweitzer wouldn’t answer questions about whether Albertans would actually make money from the tax given the sizable rebate, instead arguing the tax is going to cost 10,000 jobs in the province.
“This is going to have a broader economic impact on Alberta,” he said.
Schweitzer cited another tax change that goes into effect Thursday, a drop in Alberta’s corporate tax rate to 10 per cent, the next step in the UCP’S gradual four-per-cent tax cut for big businesses.
Schmidt argued the province’s opposition to the carbon tax is indicative of its stance toward climate change, a factor listed by financial agency Moody’s when it downgraded the province’s credit rating.
“The environment and the economy can, and must, go hand in hand. By pitting the economy and the environment against each other, Premier (Jason) Kenney and the UCP are failing at both. Minister Schweitzer neglected to acknowledge that his government’s lack of action to combat climate change was a key element in Alberta’s recent credit downgrade.”
Schweitzer said the province is taking action on climate change, citing the province’s industrial carbon tax, which differentially taxes Alberta’s big emitters.