B.C. Premier David Eby says his authorities is drafting laws to scrap the province’s shopper carbon tax following a promise from Prime Minister Mark Carney to do the identical.
Eby made the feedback Friday afternoon at a city corridor in Surrey to debate the specter of tariffs from the US.
“That is the primary time we have shared this, is that British Columbia shall be introducing a legislation earlier than April 1 that ensures that British Columbians do not should pay that improve on April 1,” he stated, referring to the scheduled improve of $15/tonne that’s required by federal laws.
Following that, he stated, his get together can be transferring to scrap the tax “altogether.”
Eby’s announcement got here simply moments earlier than Mark Carney, in his first act as the new prime minister of Canada, gave an order-in-council to take away the federal carbon tax.
First carbon tax in Canada
British Columbia was the primary jurisdiction in Canada to introduce carbon pricing by means of a shopper tax, below then-premier Gordon Campbell of the B.C. Liberals, which was on the time the province’s centre-right leaning get together.
The tax, launched in 2008, was initially set at $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions and was meant to be revenue-neutral, with the federal government refunding prices to lower-income residents.
Its creation was opposed by the NDP, which launched an “axe the tax” marketing campaign, arguing it could kill jobs and campaigned on a promise to repeal it if it received the subsequent election.
It didn’t, and the tax proved widespread. A number of economists credited it with serving to cut back emissions whereas also growing the economy. Ultimately, the NDP got here round, as effectively, and stored it in place after forming authorities in 2017.
However the reputation waned when Justin Trudeau launched federal necessities in 2019 that provinces both put their very own value on carbon or undergo federal pointers.
Within the years that adopted, the federal Conservatives below Pierre Poilievre campaigned on a pledge to “axe the tax.” Whereas campaigning for the management of the federal Liberals, Carney stated the coverage was “too divisive” and promised to kill it regardless of his assist for carbon pricing.
Throughout final yr’s provincial management marketing campaign, Eby additionally acknowledged the divisiveness of the carbon tax and stated that if the federal requirement to have one in place was dropped, he would comply with swimsuit, as a substitute shifting focus to focusing on “huge polluters” to pay their “justifiable share.”
He stated a lot the identical Friday, telling folks in Surrey that local weather change is a continued risk and his get together will take steps to make it possible for “huge polluters pay” and transfer to undertake pollution-reducing applied sciences, noting the pressing want to cut back emissions given the impacts of drought, forest hearth and different disasters in B.C.
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