As an increase in B.C.’s version of the federal carbon tax kicks in at gas pumps across Metro Vancouver Monday, local politicians and experts are speaking up about why they think the uptick is hurting more than it’s helping.
Carson Binda with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says he understands why B.C. needs to move toward a greener future, but he doesn’t think the carbon tax is the right step.
“At a time when food banks are seeing a record breaking demand across our province. When folks are having a harder time than ever making their rent and mortgage payments, it’s unacceptable for the provincial government to be jacking up the carbon tax, which is a tax on everything.”
He says the tax is a huge amount of money for a number of families in B.C. who are “just scraping by.”
The provincial government says its rebate program — the Climate Action Tax Credit — will be increasing in July, to offer residents more money.
Currently, B.C.’s program is income-based and only applies to about two thirds of all households in the province.
Binda adds the tax is far away from revenue neutral, unlike when it was initially introduced in 2008.
“Carbon tax is going to take about $3 billion away from British Columbians this year, and only return about $1 billion back through rebates,” he said.
“It’s a tax that’s hitting British Columbians bottom lines hard and hardly returning any money back to B.C. families.”
Local politicians rally to “axe the tax”
In Richmond, politicians and residents gathered on Monday at a rally organized by the Richmond Community Coalition to protest the tax increase.
BC United Leader Kevin Falcon spoke to reporters at the rally.
“I’m here today because we’re seeing David Eby and the NDP increase the carbon tax by 23 per cent at a time when British Columbians are really struggling to make ends meet,” he said.
Calling it “just wrong,” Falcon told reporters BC United would stop increases to the tax if elected.
This local protest was just one of many scattered across the province Monday, many of which caused disruptions on major highways. Protestors converged in Hope Monday morning, creating a convoy of vehicles and causing traffic disruptions in the area.
From a gas station in Nanaimo, Federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Pollievre called the tax increase a “cruel April Fools’ Day joke.”
He also spoke of increased visits to Canadian food banks and the rising cost of living as a reasons why the tax increase should not be happening.
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According to the United Nations for Climate Change, a carbon tax “creates a price signal felt across an entire economy,” therefore encouraging the transition away from carbon-intensive production.
While a carbon tax can’t guarantee a minimum level of greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations says it “ensures certainty around the size of the price signal on carbon.”
The provincial government says the carbon tax covers approximately 70 per cent of B.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions, and is meant to encourage investment into a low-carbon future.
On Monday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the increase as a necessary measure to fight climate change, and an affordability measure that increases the amount of money households receive in quarterly rebate cheques.
B.C.’s carbon tax is separate from the federal government’s, but the province has aligned its prices with the rest of the country. Quebec and the Northwest Territories also operate their own carbon pricing systems.
With files from Jawad Siddiqui.