As climate change and climate action become an increasingly hot-button issue this election, parties vary when it comes to their plan for the future of the carbon tax.
The Liberals imposed a tax on carbon-dioxide emissions of $20 per tonne on New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan on April 1 as each of the four provinces do not have a provincial carbon pricing system.
Under the current plan, individuals impacted by this pricing then receive a rebate through the tax system equal to the average person’s carbon emissions, thus those who produce fewer would ultimately come out ahead of the higher polluters.
While the carbon tax has been a controversial piece of legislation, there’s no doubt climate change is on voters’ minds this election. A Nanos Research survey released earlier this month suggests the environment and climate change are the top issue on Canadians’ priority list when it comes to how they’ll vote.
The Liberals plan to maintain the current carbon pricing system, while adding Alberta to the list in 2020 because the province has repealed its own carbon-pricing system. They also intend to increase this tax to $50 per tonne by 2022.
The NDP intend to continue the Liberals’ carbon pricing, including the rebate, while rolling back the some of the breaks they say are given to some of the larger polluters.
The Greens also intend to keep carbon pricing and want to lead an international effort of introducing a tax for aviation and shipping fuels around the world.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, intend to abolish the carbon tax, arguing it is ineffective and costly for Canadians.
Instead, their plan is to invest in “clean technology development” and launch a “Canadian Clean” brand designed to encourage consumers to buy products with this distinction.
The People’s Party of Canada also intends to abolish the federal carbon tax and instead give each province the choice whether to impose such a system.
