Chamber, MP bolstered by growing opposition to carbon tax
The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce says it is encouraged by the growing number of government officials opposed to the federal government’s proposed carbon tax now that Ontario’s newly-elected Premier Doug Ford has jumped on the bandwagon.
“I think it is great news that Ontario got on board with it,” Chamber President Terry Caldwell said Wednesday, adding the tax will only challenge residents and business and not stop carbon-based pollution. “I hope that other provinces follow suit. It is just a tax. It has nothing to do with carbon.”
The federal government stated in a report on its website on the topic of environment and climate change that there is a high cost to managing the impact on the environment from pollution. It said, in December 2016 the federal government, along with most provinces and territories agreed to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change to meet Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target and increase the economy. It added that pricing carbon pollution is “central to the framework.”
Ottawa said starting this year the provinces and territories would have carbon pricing in place. That pricing would either have a direct price on carbon pollution starting at $10 per tonne, and rising by $10 each year to $50 per tonne in 2022; or, they will have cap-and-trade, with emission cuts in line with both Canada’s target and to the reductions expected in places with a direct price.