CBC News senior standards editor Blair Shewchuk said it uses the term carbon tax rather than carbon pricing because it is the most accurate and unbiased, according to an Access to Information and Privacy request obtained by the Western Standard. While the carbon tax can be referred to with other terms, Shewchuk said it is most often referred to as this by economists and public policy experts across the political spectrum. “As such, we consider ‘carbon tax’ a clear, neutral, and meaningful synonym for ‘carbon levy’ or for a specific type of ‘carbon pricing,’” said Shewchuk in an email to a viewer. “The fact that tax can have a different, narrower meaning in certain legal contexts does not make the word’s broader, generic sense wrong or inapt.” He pointed out tax refers to more than levies for fiscal programs. Among other concepts, he said it applies to various changes imposed by governments to try to influence people’s behaviour and businesses in an economy. Some examples include higher taxes on cigarettes to discourage smoking, on gas vehicles to boost the sale of more efficient ones, and on industrial pollution to encourage businesses to reduce emissions. Tax can be used when referring to numerous tax credits and rebates, including those designed to make greener products more appealing to people and to make research and development investments more attractive to businesses. He said this is why Statistics Canada uses the term carbon tax when compiling and analyzing data tied to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA). Statistics Canada uses the United Nations definition in its research, saying a carbon tax on fossil fuel usage “creates a price signal felt across an entire economy, thereby incentivizing a move away from carbon-intensive production.” The editor went on to say there is a difference between terminology in a field such as economics and statutory definitions in a field such as constitutional law. Indeed, he said legal and common usage are not always aligned. When Ontario’s top court upheld the GGPPA in 2019, the majority of judges distinguished between what they called a regulatory charge and a tax. The difference between a regulatory charge and a tax is the primary purpose of it. In 2021, a similar legal distinction was drawn when the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) upheld the GGPPA. While the carbon tax is a term used among policy experts to describe greenhouse gas pricing, the SCC said it “has no connection to the concept of taxation as understood in the constitutional context.” Although some judges state the word tax has a narrow, legal definition, he said it does not mean the legal definition is preferred at large. CBC News continues to use carbon tax and levy because it says this language is accurate and clear, mirroring common usage. Shewchuk continued by saying carbon pricing is an umbrella term. He said it describes two common ways to try to reduce pollution related to carbon emissions — direct charges on people and industries and a cap and trade system on the latter. The main takeaway is carbon pricing is an imperfect synonym for a carbon tax or levy. Carbon pricing describes a cap and trade approach and hybrid systems combining taxes and levies with emissions trading. He said carbon tax is a non-partisan term. This is because it is not associated with a single political party in Canada or with a given ideological stance. It has been used by its supporters and critics on the left and right, ranging from the Broadbent Institute and David Suzuki Foundation to the Fraser Institute and the Angus Reid Institute. The British Columbia government introduced a carbon tax in 2008, referring to it as the 2008 Carbon Tax Act. At the end of the day, Shewchuk said carbon tax and levy are employed as synonyms for a particular type of carbon pricing in public policy debates, academic research, and general business and economics reporting. “We consider all such usage accurate and clear and find no compelling editorial argument to impose narrower definitions in our journalism,” he said. CBC Head of Public Affairs Chuck Thompson declined to comment.
CBC News senior standards editor Blair Shewchuk said it uses the term carbon tax rather than carbon pricing because it is the most accurate and unbiased, according to an Access to Information and Privacy request obtained by the Western Standard. While the carbon tax can be referred to with other terms, Shewchuk said it is most often referred to as this by economists and public policy experts across the political spectrum. “As such, we consider ‘carbon tax’ a clear, neutral, and meaningful synonym for ‘carbon levy’ or for a specific type of ‘carbon pricing,’” said Shewchuk in an email to a viewer. “The fact that tax can have a different, narrower meaning in certain legal contexts does not make the word’s broader, generic sense wrong or inapt.” He pointed out tax refers to more than levies for fiscal programs. Among other concepts, he said it applies to various changes imposed by governments to try to influence people’s behaviour and businesses in an economy. Some examples include higher taxes on cigarettes to discourage smoking, on gas vehicles to boost the sale of more efficient ones, and on industrial pollution to encourage businesses to reduce emissions. Tax can be used when referring to numerous tax credits and rebates, including those designed to make greener products more appealing to people and to make research and development investments more attractive to businesses. He said this is why Statistics Canada uses the term carbon tax when compiling and analyzing data tied to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA). Statistics Canada uses the United Nations definition in its research, saying a carbon tax on fossil fuel usage “creates a price signal felt across an entire economy, thereby incentivizing a move away from carbon-intensive production.” The editor went on to say there is a difference between terminology in a field such as economics and statutory definitions in a field such as constitutional law. Indeed, he said legal and common usage are not always aligned. When Ontario’s top court upheld the GGPPA in 2019, the majority of judges distinguished between what they called a regulatory charge and a tax. The difference between a regulatory charge and a tax is the primary purpose of it. In 2021, a similar legal distinction was drawn when the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) upheld the GGPPA. While the carbon tax is a term used among policy experts to describe greenhouse gas pricing, the SCC said it “has no connection to the concept of taxation as understood in the constitutional context.” Although some judges state the word tax has a narrow, legal definition, he said it does not mean the legal definition is preferred at large. CBC News continues to use carbon tax and levy because it says this language is accurate and clear, mirroring common usage. Shewchuk continued by saying carbon pricing is an umbrella term. He said it describes two common ways to try to reduce pollution related to carbon emissions — direct charges on people and industries and a cap and trade system on the latter. The main takeaway is carbon pricing is an imperfect synonym for a carbon tax or levy. Carbon pricing describes a cap and trade approach and hybrid systems combining taxes and levies with emissions trading. He said carbon tax is a non-partisan term. This is because it is not associated with a single political party in Canada or with a given ideological stance. It has been used by its supporters and critics on the left and right, ranging from the Broadbent Institute and David Suzuki Foundation to the Fraser Institute and the Angus Reid Institute. The British Columbia government introduced a carbon tax in 2008, referring to it as the 2008 Carbon Tax Act. At the end of the day, Shewchuk said carbon tax and levy are employed as synonyms for a particular type of carbon pricing in public policy debates, academic research, and general business and economics reporting. “We consider all such usage accurate and clear and find no compelling editorial argument to impose narrower definitions in our journalism,” he said. CBC Head of Public Affairs Chuck Thompson declined to comment.
