The Canada Revenue Agency has not explained why it is keeping hundreds of employees in its carbon tax unit, even after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the immediate elimination of the consumer fuel charge.
Blacklock's Reporter says the agency previously hired a large team of clerks to process tax revenues and rebate payments.
“We will be eliminating the consumer fuel charge immediately, immediately,” Carney told reporters last week. He assured Canadians that those who had received rebates would continue to do so, with the next payment scheduled before the end of April.
Carney described the move as part of a broader effort to support Canadians while maintaining the government’s commitment to fighting climate change and ensuring economic competitiveness.
For days, the Canada Revenue Agency has declined to answer questions about the fate of its carbon tax unit.
In a 2023 report to Parliament, the government revealed that 474 federal employees were assigned to administer the consumer fuel charge, with an annual cost exceeding $82.6 million.
Since the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act was passed, total administrative costs have reached $199.2 million.
The figures were disclosed in response to a request from Conservative MP Chris Warkentin, who asked for a breakdown of the cost to run the carbon tax and rebate program.
Blacklock’s repeatedly asked the CRA what would happen to the employees assigned to processing the tax and rebates, as well as the millions spent on administration, but received no response.
For years, cabinet defended the carbon tax as the most efficient way to lower emissions. In 2023, then-Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told Parliament that “carbon pricing is central to our climate plan because it is the most efficient and lowest-cost policy to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.”
Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also argued that pricing carbon made economic sense.
“Everyone except apparently the Conservatives understands building in price signals on things we do not want like pollution is one of the most efficient ways of reducing emissions,” he said in 2023.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson previously claimed that 99% of economists agreed carbon taxes were effective.
“If we asked 100 economists, 99 will tell us it is the most efficient way to reduce emissions,” he said in 2022.
