The federal government has “no intention” of pausing the next planned increase in the carbon price for consumers, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault acknowledged, despite the policy’s unpopularity.
Speaking to CTV’s Vassy Kapelos on his show “Power Play,” he asserted that the controversial carbon tax remains a necessary measure to fight climate change and said there was no chance the government wouldn’t raise it on April 1.
“2024 is already the most costly summer ever in terms of the environmental impacts of climate change,” Guilbeault told Kapelos, “so we need to keep acting, or we’ll never see an end in sight.”
In April this year, the price of carbon increased from $65 to $80 a tonne, meaning motorists pay an extra 3.3 cents per litre at gas stations. The federal government’s target is for the carbon tax to rise by $15 per year until it reaches $170 a tonne in 2030.
The policy has been one of the Conservatives’ main attacks against the Liberals, with Opposition Leader Pierre Poirierbvre repeatedly calling for the “repeal of the carbon tax.” Poirierbvre said his party is pushing to give Canadians the choice on a carbon tax as soon as possible through a vote of no confidence in the government, due to take place in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The carbon price has also drawn strong opposition from most provincial premiers, including Liberal Premier Andrew Furey of Newfoundland and Labrador.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh recently signaled he might distance himself from the policy, saying his party is committed to a climate change solution that doesn’t burden workers, but declined to say whether that would include a consumer carbon price.
During the election campaign, British Columbia New Democratic Party Premier David Eby also said he would repeal the province’s consumer carbon tax if the federal government eliminated its carbon emission tax requirement.
Guilbeault argues that if there was an alternative that would fight climate change more effectively than a carbon price, that wouldn’t cost taxpayers money and would allow the government to reduce Canada’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent by 2030, he would adopt it “in a heartbeat.”
Asked by Kapelos whether the carbon tax would continue to increase beyond the current 2030 target, Guilbeault acknowledged that it was possible that this would no longer be necessary.
“If we come to the conclusion that we don’t need to keep increasing our emissions and that they will continue to go down because of all the other work that we’re doing, then there’s no reason to keep increasing our emissions,” he said.
The full CTV Power Play interview with Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault can be viewed at the top of this article.
