The David Suzuki Foundation wants other provinces to imitate BC's new carbon pricing system for large industries such as pulp mills and mines.The foundation celebrated the new tax in a news release issued from Vancouver, which it called the "unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories."Tom Green, senior climate policy adviser for the foundation, said the "output-based" carbon tax was the way to go.“It’s essential that industry take action on its emissions. This new system holds industry accountable for its pollution while advancing new opportunities for jobs in the transition to a clean energy economy. “BC is setting the bar for other provinces, which we hope will follow a similar path."The Mining Association of BC (MABC) has voiced concerns about a new industrial carbon pricing system that goes into effect April 1, along with a $15 hike to the broader carbon tax, which will push it to $80 per tonne of CO2."According to Skarn Associates, a leader in quantifying and benchmarking greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the mining sector, BC has some of the lowest GHG-emitting mines and smelters on the planet, thanks to our early adoption and ongoing use of clean hydroelectricity at our operations," the association writes on its carbon pricing website."Despite our low-emission operations, BC’s mines and smelters pay the highest functional carbon tax of any major mining jurisdiction in the world.".The association says the taxation it will soon face will ironically make it harder to decarbonize."The federal government has announced the carbon tax will more than triple from the current $50/tonne to $170/tonne by 2030, which the BC provincial government has committed to match. Without protections from these increases, the competitive position of BC mines will deteriorate further, along with the working capital needed to invest in ongoing decarbonization."The Business Council of BC (BCBC) has pointed out that the provincial government’s own economic analysis projects the West Coast economy could be $28 billion smaller by 2030 under the CleanBC plan than without it.Regardless, the Suzuki Foundation is glad the BC government didn't listen to industry.“We appreciate that the government held firm and didn’t bow to industry pressure by making concessions that undermine climate action. This well-designed climate policy offers incentives for positive change while retaining BC industry’s ability to remain competitive," Green said.“Given the mounting evidence about the severity of the climate crisis, the system could be even stronger. We believe that as large industry makes real investments to decarbonize production and swap out polluting fossil gas and oil, the benefits of stricter compliance measures will become obvious." "We will continue to advocate for more stringent measures, such as exposing more emissions to taxation, when the system is reviewed.”At the Globe Forum in Vancouver on February 14, Premier David Eby said he would continue to stand for honesty and good policy even if other premiers did not.“The good news is, in my opinion, and I’m staking my political career on it, British Columbians, because we’re on the front lines of these impacts, we’re also well positioned to understand why we need to do the work, why we need to show climate leadership."“Business certainty that I can assure you of, as leader of BC, is that we will not back down on climate action,” Eby said."BC will be strong on climate, even if we’re the only province in Canada standing strong on climate, because in BC, we don’t see another choice. Anyone who tells you that there’s another choice is lying to you as a politician.”
