B.C. Premier David Eby says his government is working on legislation that will eliminate the provincial consumer carbon tax, after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that he’s getting rid of the federal consumer carbon tax.
B.C. first introduced the provincial consumer carbon tax in 2008. The federal carbon tax was introduced in 2019 for provinces that did not already have one in place.
“Work is underway. We are writing the law to get rid of the carbon tax in British Columbia,” Eby said during a town hall meeting in Surrey on March 14.
“As soon as the federal government announces it we will introduce and pass that law in British Columbia to get rid of the carbon tax entirely.”
He said that because the B.C. consumer carbon tax is legislation, it requires legislation to eliminate it. Parliament, meanwhile, is prorogued until March 24.
“The work is happening right now within the Ministry of Finance to ensure that we’re able to accommodate this commitment within the budget,” Eby told reporters following the meeting.
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The premier said the legislation will be in place to avoid an increase in the consumer carbon tax on April 1.
“That’s what we have been preparing for and we will introduce the legislation to eliminate the carbon tax in British Columbia, and we’ll work with the federal government on the timing of their measures,” he said.
The premier said there would be a “significant” consequence of the decision to remove the tax as families will no longer be getting rebate cheques from the province.
Eby noted that his government would continue to tax industries for greenhouse gas emissions.
“We have something called output-based pricing, which means that it’s industry specific. So there’s a concrete one, there’s a mining one, there’s an oil and gas one,” he said.
“What it does is it recognizes that different industries have different capacity to reduce their emissions with the technologies we have, and it puts a price on carbon that encourages them to adopt those technologies”
He said the output-based pricing system would stay in place.
Eby called the carbon tax an “important tool” for his province.
“For over a decade and a half, a price on pollution has been an effective part of our efforts to tackle climate change. However, with cost-of-living pressures facing households and the imminent removal of federal carbon pricing, there is no longer support for the measure,” he said.
“While we eliminate the consumer carbon tax, we will continue to ensure big industrial polluters pay their fair share by maintaining an effective price on carbon for large emitters,” Eby added.
End of Federal Consumer Carbon Tax
Eby’s decision follows an announcement by newly minted PM Carney, who said he would be eliminating the federal consumer carbon tax following a meeting with his cabinet on March 14.
Carney signed an order-in-council to end the tax on April 1, the same day the tax was set to increase by $15 to $95 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. He said the government will ensure rebate cheques are delivered to Canadians before the end of April.
Carney promised to end the consumer carbon tax during the Liberal Party leadership campaign. He said he would replace it with a system that rewards purchases of electric vehicles, heat pumps, and energy-efficient appliances.
He also said he would develop a new carbon tax for “big polluters.”
During a campaign stop in Halifax in January, Carney called former Prime MInister Justin Trudeau’s consumer carbon tax “too divisive” and said it “isn’t working.” He said he would bring in a new climate policy that was “unifying, credible, and predictable.”
The federal consumer carbon tax was introduced at $20 per tonne in 2019, to encourage Canadians and businesses to adopt greener forms of energy and lower carbon emissions. It was set to increase annually until reaching $170 per tonne in 2030.
Matthew Horwood contributed to this article.
