Conservative premiers continued their attack on the Liberal government’s carbon pricing policy on Thursday, telling MPs in a parliamentary committee that the planned price increase should be scrapped along with the entire federal program.
Alberta Premier Daniel Smith and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs made their claims at the Government Operations and Estimates Committee a day after Saskatchewan’s premier. Scott Moe seems to be making a similar argument..
Mr Smith said the price increase from $65 to $80 per tonne, scheduled for April 1, should be scrapped. He also called the plan to raise prices to $170 a tonne by 2030 “reckless,” “immoral” and “inhumane.”
“Additional pressures will ruin countless lives, futures and dreams. It’s a weight that Canadians cannot bear,” Smith said. “That’s why Alberta has been calling on the federal government to abolish the carbon tax since 2019.”
Smith said now is not the time to raise the price on carbon emissions, as inflation over the past two years has increased the price of everything in the state, forcing families and businesses to make significant savings to survive. Ta.
The Steering and Estimates Committee is tasked with examining government spending on Canada Post, the Transport Accident Investigation and Safety Board, Canada Shared Services, and others.
But Conservative Party chairwoman Kelly McCauley invited the prime minister and others to attend and give their views on carbon pricing over protests by Liberal members on the committee.
The first 25 minutes of Thursday’s meeting were a back-and-forth debate, with Liberal and Macquarie bickering over the relevance of the witnesses and the process by which they were invited.
Prime Minister Blaine Higgs testified before the federal committee about raising the carbon tax (which he opposes), said demand for liquefied natural gas was growing in countries such as the Czech Republic, and promoted LNG exports to Europe. .
Quebec, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories have their own carbon pricing regimes that meet federal standards, so no federal carbon price or backstop applies.
In states using the federal backstop, the carbon price is fuel charge rate This varies from fuel to fuel based on the CO2 equivalent emissions produced during combustion.
90% of government revenue from carbon taxes is returned to households through rebate programs. The remaining 10 percent will go toward programs that help businesses, schools, municipalities, and other grant recipients reduce their fossil fuel consumption.
Congressional budget officials consistently find that nearly all households receive more from carbon tax rebates than they pay in direct and indirect costs. Only households in the highest income quintile spend more and are therefore expected to pay more than they receive.
Exporting low-emission gas overseas
Mr Smith and Mr Higgs both called for alternative greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies, centered around Article 6 of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Under this provision, countries will voluntarily cooperate to transfer carbon credits earned in one country to another country to help meet climate change targets, provided that emissions are not double counted. can do.
“If we could simply reduce our reliance on Chinese coal by 20 per cent, we could offset all of Canada’s emissions,” Smith said.
Higgs said Canada needs to “think bigger” and realize that reducing emissions in Canada – which he says comes at great cost – won’t significantly reduce global emissions. Stated.
“We can do better. If we sit back and cost people more money and have no impact on global carbon emissions, who are we fooling? ” he asked.
“Perhaps the Paris Agreement should be amended to give countries that can have a greater impact the opportunity to do so.”
Higgs said he would like to see New Brunswick’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry further develop. He said he could sign a 20-year supply agreement with the Czech Republic tomorrow if supplies could be guaranteed.
“We could ship it to Europe and shut down coal-fired power plants. That’s a simple plan that would generate $3 billion in investment on St. John,” Higgs said.
For the plan to work, China or European countries would have to agree to transfer credits from their own countries for emissions reductions to Canada.
of The Climate Institute says Article 6 will not help Canada reduce emissions from LNG exports to China or Europe. The report notes that if China and European countries pay market prices for LNG, there is little incentive to give Canada some of the emissions reduction credits.
The Climate Institute says Canada will need to offer some financial incentives to get credit for LNG exports. This raises the question of why Canada is not using LNG itself and taking credit for greenhouse gas reductions, the institute said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also mentioned carbon pricing at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday.
Mr. Ford said he prefers to invest money in innovations in public transportation and low-emission industries that can more quickly transform emitting industries into zero-emission companies.
“There are other ways to reduce emissions than digging into people’s pockets and punishing companies,” he said.
For the second day in a row, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Conservative prime minister and the federal Conservative Party of misleading Canadians on the climate change debate.
“Prime ministers, especially Conservative prime ministers, are misleading Canadians,” Trudeau said Thursday in Vancouver.
“The Conservative Opposition and Conservative Party leaders in Ottawa are not telling Canadians the truth.”
