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Let me begin by saying I am very disappointed in Justin Trudeau’s overall performance as prime minister of Canada. However, he is at least trying to do something about carbon emissions and climate change with his carbon pricing.
Are most of those Canadians who parrot the phrase “axe the tax” not regularly receiving rebate cheques from the federal government? Almost 80 per cent of Canadian households (including ours) are. But perhaps the “axe the tax”-ers’ household incomes are too big to qualify for the rebate.
British Columbia, Quebec and the Northwest Territories do not pay the federal carbon tax because those jurisdictions have their own carbon emission-reduction legislation.
Ontarians would not be paying the carbon ‘tax,’ either, if, immediately upon his election as premier, Doug Ford had not done away with the cap-and-trade policy (instituted by the previous Liberal government), thereby causing the federal government to invoke carbon pricing in Ontario.
The cap-and-trade policy would have forced industry to reduce its carbon emissions rather than placing the burden on Ontario citizens. If every province had its own legislation to reduce carbon emissions, there would be no carbon ‘tax’ in Canada. But then cap and trade would cause backlash from the rich owners of carbon-emitting industries, and provincial premiers would rather have their citizens upset at the federal government. Their only concern is how to get re-elected next time.
The federal carbon pricing is in effect only in those provinces that do not have their own carbon-reducing legislation in place. If you believe in climate change and you want to end carbon pricing, urge your local MPP and premier to have the provincial government enact its own carbon-emitting legislation, thereby “axing the tax.”
While you can blame the federal government for carbon pricing, you should be blaming your premier for having it in your province.
Annabelle Groves
Oro-Medonte
