Manitoba government unveils details of its Climate and Green Plan

Manitoba's climate and green plan unveiled Josh Crabb breaks down the province's green plan as legislation is introduced and what public service won't be exempt from the carbon tax.

The Manitoba government unveiled some details of its Climate and Green Plan which involves an increased fuel tax for vehicles and output-based pricing for large emitters.

Legislation was introduced Thursday afternoon in the Manitoba legislature.

Many of the details will be worked out by a new Expert Advisory Council to replace the Manitoba Round Table and the Manitoba Water Council.

Under the proposed plan, some of which was released earlier this week during the provincial budget, a carbon price of $25 per tonne of emissions would be established in Manitoba.  It means drivers would pay an extra 5.3 cents a litre for gasoline, but the price will be more like 5.6 cents a litre once GST is applied, department officials told reporters who received embargoed details of the plan.

The carbon tax would be tacked onto the current 14 cents/litre fuel tax making the new tax 19.6 cents/litre.

The current Fuel Tax Act would be renamed The Fuel and Carbon Tax Act.

Industries such as agriculture, mining, forestry, trapping and municipal firefighting vehicles, and off-road fuel usage, such as for grass-cutting, are all exempt from the carbon tax.

Firefighting vehicles have historically been exempt from the fuel tax.

However public transit will not be exempt from the carbon tax.

Officials said the incentive is to encourage a switch to electric buses.

An output-based carbon pricing system, similar to Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, for industrial operations with emissions of 50,000 tonnes or more would be established.  An emissions limit would be established requiring emitters to pay for every tonne of emissions over the industry limit, which has yet to be set.

Large emitters would be responsible for reporting their emissions with oversight from the province.

A $40 million climate and green fund would be made available for projects in Manitoba to help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.

Projects could include public and active transportation, natural restoration such as wetland restoration, energy efficiency for buildings and waste and recycling programming.

“Our goal is to reduce carbon emissions, keep jobs here and stimulate innovation in clean energy, our economy and workforce,” said Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires in a news release.

It’s estimated the carbon tax will generate $248 million a year in revenue.

The province said it will return all revenue collected from the carbon tax to Manitobans over the next four years through various measures, including personal income tax relief, small business tax reductions and rolling back the PST to 7 per cent by 2020.