Achieving climate goals will be difficult and painful, according to a Liberal MP. MP Ryan Turnbull (Whitby, Ont.) said yesterday that all Canadians are “going to have to switch our lifestyles.”.“Achieving net zero is not going to be easy, that’s for sure,” Turnbull yesterday told the House of Commons during debate on a budget bill. “It will require all of us at every level across every industry on behalf of families and members of the general public.”.“We are going to have to switch our lifestyles and that is going to be painful at times,” said Turnbull. “Our plan is driven by our national price on pollution.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, the federal carbon tax is currently the equivalent of 12¢ a lite for gasoline. It is projected to reach 40¢ by 2030. Carbon taxes on other fuels would total 27¢ more per litre of propane, 34¢ per cubic metre of natural gas, 44¢ for aviation fuel and an extra 47¢ per litre for diesel..Turnbull did not elaborate on “painful” repercussions of cabinet’s climate program. The Department of Environment in a memo last November 19 claimed it had proven carbon taxes could “keep life affordable.”.“Canada has proven that carbon pricing can be done in a manner that keeps life affordable,” staff wrote in a briefing note. “All direct proceeds from the federal system remain in the jurisdiction where they are collected.”.“There is a clear cost from a changing climate so it can’t be free to pollute,” wrote staff. “That’s why the Government of Canada introduced a price on carbon.”.The Department of Environment in a regulatory notice last December 18 said the carbon tax, coupled with other measures like ethanol mandates, would raise fuel prices and “disproportionately impact lower and middle income households.”.It said pensioners, single parents, and Canadians who rely on home heating oil are “likely to experience energy poverty in the future.".The Parliamentary Budget Office in a separate March 24 report said carbon taxes represent a net cost for most Canadians. “Most households will see a net loss,” said the report..Net losses by 2030 will average $2,282 a year per household in Alberta, $1464 in Saskatchewan, $1461 in Ontario and $1145 a year in Manitoba, the four provinces where federal carbon taxes are rebated by Parliament..“The costs they face including the federal carbon levy, higher GST and lower incomes will exceed the Climate Action Incentive rebate they receive,” wrote analysts.
