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Given their full-throated defence of the federal carbon tax, why can’t the Trudeau government tell us how much it’s reducing Canada’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions?
After all, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers keep telling us, that’s the whole point of the carbon tax.
It’s primary purpose is not to make Canadians richer or poorer.
This depending on whether you believe Trudeau that 80% of households paying the federal carbon tax end up better off because of rebates, or Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux, who says when you factor in the tax’s negative impact on the economy, 60% of households end up worse off, despite the rebates.
The carbon tax is supposed to be the most economically efficient way we have to lower emissions linked to climate change.
In response to an order paper question by Conservative MP Dan Mazier last month, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said:
“The government does not measure the annual amount of emissions that are directly reduced by federal carbon pricing. Retroactively attributing specific GHG reductions to a specific action, such as carbon pricing, a discrete regulation, or a specific incentive, is difficult given the multiple interacting factors that influence emissions, including carbon pricing, tax incentives, funding programs, investor preferences and consumer demand. The National Inventory Report, which reports annually on historical GHG emissions, does not include this information.” (Huh????)
Given their full-throated defence of the federal carbon tax, why can’t the Trudeau government tell us how much it’s reducing Canada’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions? After all, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers keep telling us, that’s the whole point of the carbon...
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The closest we’ve gotten to an answer from the Trudeau government was a Dec. 1, 2023 news release on, “How pollution pricing reduces emissions,” that simultaneously estimated reductions from the federal carbon tax at “roughly one-third” and “as much as one-third” of Canada’s emission reductions in 2030.
An accompanying chart estimated the carbon tax will reduce Canada’s emissions (670 million tonnes in 2021, according to the latest available government data) by 19 million tonnes in 2022, 24 million tonnes in 2023, 32 million tonnes in 2024, 43 million tonnes in 2025, 49 million tonnes in 2026, 56 million tonnes in 2027, 62 million tonnes in 2028, 70 million tonnes in 2029 and 79 million tonnes in 2030.
But if they’re not measuring it, how do they know?
Considering that the Trudeau government says it’s spending more than $200 billion on more than 100 climate change programs, it’s time for some answers.