The carbon tax is set to increase to $50 a tonne on April 1 adding about two cents a liter to costs at the pump. After that, it will continue to increase annually until reaching $170 per tonne in 2030.
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A motion calling on the federal government to stop scheduled increases to the carbon tax is expected to be debated in the Alberta legislature on Tuesday.
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Though it’s not binding — Alberta lost its court fight over the carbon tax and can’t force the federal government to make changes — Premier Jason Kenney argued Monday that the motion is a chance for elected Alberta officials to send a “clear message.”
“The single most important issue for ordinary people right now is inflation — food inflation, fuel inflation, electricity inflation — this carbon tax hike makes that situation much worse,” Kenney said.
“And this is a matter of real urgency to families that can barely afford to pay their bills right now.”
The carbon tax is set to increase to $50 a tonne on April 1 adding about two cents a liter to costs at the pump. After that, it will continue to increase annually until reaching $170 per tonne in 2030.
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At the same time, the rebate Albertans receive is also set to go up. In 2022 an Albertan family of four is expected to receive $1,200.
Federal officials have said that the vast majority of Canadians get more back in a refund than they pay in carbon taxes.
TO report by the parliamentary budget officee last week confirmed that fact while also taking a deeper look at how much was going to be shaved off Canada’s GDP due to the carbon tax and how that would impact households from a reduction in employment earnings and investment income.
The report suggests that by 2030 all Albertans, with the exception of the lowest 20 per cent of incomes, would have their overall income reduced as a result of the tax by more than they receive through the rebate.
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“The majority of Canadian households are net losers on the carbon tax minus the rebate,” Kenney said.
University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe said the PBO report is not an argument against the carbon tax, adding that any effort to lower emissions is going to come with costs.
“If we don’t lower emissions using carbon pricing, and (instead) pursue alternative policies to achieve the same emissions reduction, then the economic costs will be even larger than what this report finds,” he said.
NDP energy critic Kathleen Ganley called the government’s motion “theatrics.” She said the provincial government could be doing things to help including means-tested caps and utility disconnection bans.
“Instead, (Kenney’s) just sort of using this to go after the federal government, who the Supreme Court has been very clear has jurisdiction on this issue,” she said.
