Taxpayer advocates are calling on Liberal Party leadership contender Mark Carney to disclose the financial impact of his proposed changes to the federal carbon tax, after he admitted he would "change" the policy rather than eliminate it.
“After Carney led Canadians to believe he was getting rid of the carbon tax, now he says he’s going to ‘change’ it, so how much will his relabeled carbon tax cost?” asked Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). “We know the cost of Carney’s carbon tax won’t be zero, so how much extra will people have to pay when they fill up at the gas station or pay their heating bills?”
Carney clarified his stance on the carbon tax during remarks in Kelowna, British Columbia, on Wednesday.
“The issue wasn’t, to coin a phrase, whether to ‘axe the tax,’ the issue was how to change it,” Carney said. “So in changing the carbon tax … We are making the large companies pay for everybody.”
Currently, the federal carbon tax adds approximately 17 cents per litre to gasoline, 21 cents per litre to diesel, and 15 cents per cubic metre to natural gas. The tax is set to increase again on April 1. Repeated reports from the Parliamentary Budget Officer have shown that the carbon tax costs the average Canadian family hundreds of dollars more than they receive back in rebates.
“Taxpayers have a simple question for Carney: What will happen to gas prices and home heating bills under his plan?” Terrazzano said. “Whether the carbon tax is up front or hidden, Canadians can’t afford to pay more to fuel up their cars, heat their homes, and buy groceries.”
Carney’s proposal involves removing the direct visibility of the carbon tax on home heating bills but shifting the financial burden onto businesses. He has also suggested scrapping the current carbon tax rebates and instead implementing a system that would reward Canadians for making environmentally approved purchases.
Critics argue that Carney’s approach will still result in higher costs for consumers.
“Carbon taxes on refineries make gas more expensive, carbon taxes on utilities make home heating more expensive, and carbon taxes on fertilizer plants increase costs for farmers, and that makes groceries more expensive,” said Kris Sims, Alberta Director of CTF. “Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to scrap the carbon tax, and that will cut the price of gas by 17 cents per litre. Now, Carney needs to be honest about how much his changed carbon tax will cost.”
As the leadership race continues, Canadians will be watching closely to see whether Carney provides clearer details on how his changes to the carbon tax will affect household budgets.
