‘A price on pollution’: Trudeau to impose carbon tax on non-compliant provinces, rebates for Canadians

OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – “We know it’s time to act.”

That’s the message coming from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as he prepares to implement his carbon tax on provinces that don’t meet the federal thresholds, which he confirms are Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick.

“We know that putting a price on pollution is one of the fundamentally essential tools to fighting climate change,” Trudeau tells 1310 NEWS Parliament Hill Reporter Cormac Mac Sweeney. “But we also know that we need to make sure families are OK, and that’s why we are going to be compensating families and Canadians in the provinces in which we’re bringing in a price on pollution because the province won’t do it.”

The federal government says it will return 90 per cent of the money it collects from the carbon price directly to the Canadians who pay it, with the average household payments ranging from $256 to $598.

Families will be compensated based on size, and the rebate will vary between provinces. Trudeau says they will receive more money back from this incentive “than they pay in extra costs for the price we’re putting on pollution.”

Insiders say the amount Canadians qualify for will be determined by using tax filings, and that the money will begin flowing next year.

The remaining 10 per cent will be handed out to small and medium-sized businesses.

The higher prices that come with a carbon tax is supposed to disincentive polluting behaviours. Despite the plan to give the money back to people, Trudeau doesn’t believe this will defeat the purpose of the tax.

“The core of putting a price on pollution is exactly that. Making sure that pollution is no longer free. You’re making something you don’t want more expensive. We don’t want pollution, so we’re putting a price on it.”

LISTEN: 1310 NEWS Reporter Cormac Mac Sweeney talks about the federal carbon tax with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

He says there’s a conservative movement that refuses to “put a price on pollution,” and says now is the time for change. Trudeau points to natural disasters like wildfires and floods as signs that urgency is needed to combat climate change. “Conservatives don’t want to act, but we are,” Trudeau says.

Along with putting a price on carbon, the prime minister says there are a number of other initiatives that will work along side this tax to curb behaviour.

This, he claims, is why the federal government’s planned price on carbon is lower than what experts suggest.

Critics have called this a “job-killing carbon tax.”

“I think Canadians know that the world is changing, that we have to fight climate change, that we have to develop new ways of doing things and this is about creating jobs of the future,” Trudeau says in response to the criticism.

While it remains to be seen whether this tax will in fact result in a number of job losses as businesses shift their practices, Trudeau says industries understand this is the direction the world is moving in.

“Places like British Columbia and Quebec and others have shown real leadership on climate change. They’re moving forward in their own plan that works for their citizens and that grows the economy, and reaches the stringency necessary in terms of putting a price on pollution.”

Saskatchewan and Ontario have launched legal challenges ahead of the planned carbon tax, which is expected to be imposed starting Apr. 1, 2019 — four months later than originally planned.

The first year of the carbon tax will see emissions priced at about $20/t, and will continue to rise until it hits $50/t by 2022.

Average Canadians will see the carbon prices on things like fuel, and spin off increases in the cost of consumer goods.

-With files from the Canadian Press