Canadian government admits truth about carbon taxes
Canada’s Department of Environment confirmed this month that the Trudeau administration’s carbon tax is costing the economy heavily, contrary to earlier claims by government officials.
Federal government: Carbon tax is ‘revenue neutral’
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced the carbon tax in 2019 as an “incentive” for taxpayers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It began by charging an extra C$20 for each carbon tonne of fuel and has increased every year. In April, the climate tax was raised to C$80 per carbon metric ton (2204 punds), which breaks down to an extra charge of over C$0.13 per gallon of fuel.
The government has long claimed that the carbon tax is “revenue neutral” because roughly 90% of the carbon tax revenue is returned to individuals in rebates.
But new data recently released by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has challenged that claim.
Climate tax expected to cost economy billions
According to the department’s calculations, the carbon tax is expected to slash economic production by C$20 billion to C$30 billion per year. The estimates back previous findings by Canada’s Budget Office, according to Rebel News.
Minister Guilbeault suggested the initial cost to the economy is worth it because the country will “avoid $23 billion of climate impacts.”
“This analysis does not take into account the benefits of investing to fight climate change,” Guilbeault told reporters.
Canadian farmers are being hardest-hit from the climate tax, with the average livestock farmer expected to receive a $726 climate bill every month. Crop farmers can expect to pay another $2,024 in monthly climate taxes.
Carbon tax ‘means everything goes up’
Additionally, while the rebates distributed to families may help with the higher gas fees caused by the climate tax, they do not address other costs associated with the tax.
"Because the gas goes up and diesel goes up it really means everything goes up," Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said after last year’s carbon tax hike, calling the levy a “punitive tax”. "Everything at the cash register will be a little more because of this tax. And the worst thing is this tax won't do anything to preserve the planet."
Tony Singh, president of the Fruticana grocery store chain, said food prices are doubling because of the carbon tax.
“The prices on trucking have doubled,” Singh told prime ministerial candidate and chief Trudeau opponent Pierre Poilievre. “Not only bringing from a farm out of Mexico and California, [but shipping] from a warehouse from Surrey to Vancouver has doubled. So that gets added onto the price.”
Poilievre asked Singh for his response to a study cited by legacy media outlets concluding that the carbon tax will not cause higher prices.
“Show me the formula,” replied Singh. “If they work, I will use the formula here to lower prices.”
