CARBON TAX
Feds announce rebate program
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged more than $2 billion in annual carbon tax rebates Tuesday as his Liberal government tried to persuade Canadians that putting a price on pollution is the best way to halt climate change.
Trudeau’s plan to slash Canada’s emissions was scoffed at by critics on both sides of the carbon tax argument. Groups that favour carbon prices argued Canada’s proposed cuts were nowhere near big enough while opponents accusing the government from buying votes to outright lying about whether the rebates will really offset the increased cost to families.
Trudeau said there is both a “moral and economic imperative to act” to manage climate change, so the next generations of Canadians aren’t left in a world where monster storms and massive droughts burn up or flood out major portions of the planet.
“Will we kick this can down the road yet again to be dealt with in another place or at another time, or will we show some courage and do what needs to be done for this generation and the next?” he said, addressing students at Humber College in Toronto.
Tuesday’s announcement set the stage for what will be a key issue in next year’s federal election. Trudeau promised a national price on carbon in the 2015 campaign. In 2016, he told provinces if they didn’t introduce their own price on carbon, Ottawa would do it for them.
In 2017, he gave them almost a year to come up with a plan of their own that met federal standards. Four provinces did not, and so on April 1, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick residents will start paying a $20 per tonne carbon tax on fossil fuels.
It will add about $2 to a tank of gas, or $8 to a monthly natural gas bill. The prices of many consumer goods and services will also go up to reflect the carbon tax that businesses pay. Ottawa estimates people in those provinces will pay between $202 and $403 more, on average, because of the carbon tax in 2019-20.
To minimize the impact of those costs, residents in those provinces will get carbon price rebates when they file their income taxes that range from an average $248 in New Brunswick, to $598 in Saskatchewan.
The amount paid depends on the amount and types of energy consumed. Payments will be determined based on family size. People who live outside big cities will get 10 per cent more to account for a higher reliance on fossil fuels and lack of access to things like public transit.
Officials said more than 70 per cent of households will end up receiving more than they pay.
Speaking late Tuesday to Liberal supporters in Montreal, Trudeau praised Quebec and British Columbia, which have both imposed a so-called carbon tax.
But he added there are still parts of the country,”where people refuse to get it.”
“It’s that they refuse to see that moving forward in a responsible way to fight climate change is the only choice we have right now,” he said.
Trudeau pointed to the 50 people who died a few months ago from a heat wave in Montreal, wildfires, droughts, floods and other extreme weather events right across Canada.
“Nobody has to be convinced anymore that the environment is something we need to take care off, the questions now is, are we going to act or not?”
The prime minister said conservative politicians are “banking on the fact that Canadians are not going to want to act.”
The government expects to collect more than $2.36 billion from the four affected provinces in 2019-20, and says 90 per cent of the revenues collected will be returned to individuals via the rebates. The rest will be parceled out to small businesses, colleges, schools and hospitals in a special fund that has yet to be worked out.
Earlier in the day, Trudeau said every penny will be rebated in some way and the program will be audited and publicly reported on each year. He said people can save even more by finding ways to reduce their energy use, and subsequently, their emissions.