Ontario notches win on carbon tax

• Environmental groups are calling out the liberal government for its decision to approve a recent carbon tax plan proposed by ontario, saying it contradicts Prime minister Justin

Trudeau’s lofty rhetoric around cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson this weekend approved a carbon-pricing scheme proposed by ontario that seeks to limit emissions by industrial polluters, ending more than a year of negotiations between the two governments.

Wilkinson approved the plan despite acknowledging himself that it would “achieve substantially fewer reductions” of greenhouse gas emissions than the federal proposal.

The minister also approved New brunswick’s industrial emitters proposal, which similarly falls short of federal standards, according to environmentalists.

Environmental lobbyists say the decision is starkly at odds with the Liberal government’s environmentally-conscious messaging, particularly at a time when it seeks to woo voters through an “ambitious” green recovery plan that could be laid out in this week’s speech from the throne.

“Doug Ford gutted Ontario’s climate plan, and the feds are allowing him to do it,” said Keith Stewart, a spokesperson for Greenpeace Canada. “Ontario is not pulling its weight on the climate fight.”

Environmental defence, a climate advocacy group, called Ottawa’s endorsement of the Ontario plan “hollow,” and said it was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.

The weekend agreement with Ontario and New brunswick highlights the immense challenge facing the Liberal government as it seeks to implement its industrial carbon tax scheme in Canada, which will need to be agreed upon by all provincial leaders. many provinces have pushed for special exemptions from Ottawa’s carbon taxes, saying they could threaten jobs and investment.

Wilkinson was forced to accept Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s carbon tax on heavy emitters in december 2019, even though it neglected to raise its levy to the federally-imposed minimum of $50 per tonne by 2022.

The industrial emitters tax is separate from the economywide carbon tax, although the latter has absorbed much more public attention because it targets average consumers by marginally raising prices for gasoline.

The industrial levy, by comparison, targets major emitters like mining companies, oil refineries and concrete plants. It calls on provinces to raise its industrial carbon tax to $50 per tonne by 2022, after which a new round of provincial-federal negotiations will be required to set new targets.

Former environment minister Catherine mckenna officially introduced Ottawa’s plans for tighter climate policies in 2016 through the Pan-canadian Framework, a document that was supported by all provinces except Saskatchewan. but attitudes toward the framework changed in recent years, after Conservative governments took office in Alberta, manitoba and Ontario, and created a wall of resistance against the federal environmental policies.

Several provincial leaders have levelled court challenges against the economywide carbon tax, arguing it amounts to jurisdictional overreach by the federal government. The Supreme Court will host hearings on Tuesday to determine whether Ottawa has the authority to impose the carbon tax in Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Analysts and environmental advocates say the Ontario plan is generally more lenient on heavy polluters than the federal plan, which had been in place in the province since 2018. It effectively forces industrial emitters to lower their emissions by a lower share, resulting in few reductions overall, some observers say.

“It is an objectively weaker system,” said Sarah buchanan, a spokesperson for environmental defence. “It’s basically less ambitious in every sector.”

In a letter to Ontario environment minister Jeff yurek this weekend, Wilkinson acknowledged that the provincial program was “significantly weaker than the federal backstop, and it will result in few emissions reductions.”

He said the Ontario program would make it “much more challenging to reach Canada’s 2030 target.”

Canada agreed under former prime minister Stephen Harper to reduce its GHG emissions 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 — a target the Canadian government has always been well short of meeting. The Ontario plan will only reduce emissions by one mega tonne per year, according to the provincial Auditor General, while the province will need to cut roughly 20 mega tonnes per year to meet its 2030 targets.

Ottawa says it has been forced to reluctantly support weaker provincial environmental plans in part because of the limited scope of so-called “benchmark assessments,” which effectively lay out the foundational targets for Canadian climate policy. Federal officials in turn sought to agree to new benchmarks with the provinces, which would effectively give Ottawa more authority to enforce stricter climate regulations.

“Going forward, the current benchmark assessment will need to be refined and strengthened to ensure that all systems — whether administered by the federal government, or by provincial or territorial governments — achieve meaningful levels of emissions reductions and spur innovation and clean growth,” the minister said in a statement.

But environmental advocates point out that Ottawa wrote its own benchmark standards. They argue that Ottawa should be pushing back harder in negotiations, rather than accept provincial plans more or less as they are proposed.

“I think the feds should have fought tooth and nail to maintain tougher standards here,” said Greenpeace’s Stewart.