'We haven't made a decision on that': Feds consulting on post-2030 carbon tax hikes

Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault says “no decision has been made” on whether the carbon price will continue to increase after the current 2030 goalpost, but that the federal government is in consultations to determine future targets by next year.

Asked if that means he is not ruling out more post-2030 increases, Guilbeault said "we haven't made a decision on that."

"We've started consultations to prepare the next phase of emissions reduction, so post 2030, in Canada, in fact, going to 2035," Guilbeault told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday.

• Capital Dispatch: Sign up for in-depth political coverage of Parliament Hill

Guilbeault added those consultations are "ongoing," and said the federal government has until next year to lay out its next round of climate targets "as per our United Nations commitments."

"But by 2025, there's no decision that has been made yet, other than we will continue increasing the price on pollution," he said, and pointed to the rebate payments — recently rebranded as the Canada Carbon Rebate — also going up.

The current $65-per-tonne carbon price is set to increase to $80 per tonne on April 1, with the impending hike forcing the issue to the political centre stage in recent months.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been holding "axe the tax" rallies since last summer, and this week upped the ante with a failed non-confidence motion in an attempt to topple the Liberals and kick off a "carbon tax election."

The carbon price is set to reach $170 a tonne by 2030, according to federal government targets.

Guilbeault said if the Conservatives or premiers who oppose the hike can point to a measure to fight climate change more effective than the carbon price — a marquee piece of the Liberals' climate policy — he’s eager to hear it.

"If there's a measure like that lying around under a rock somewhere, someone needs to show it to me, because I haven't seen it," he said.

The environment minister also reiterated that the federal government will not be implementing any more carve-outs in the program, despite significant pushback from the premiers of seven of the eight provinces where the policy is in place.