carbon tax

Tuesday April 2, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 2, 2019

Canadian provinces vow to resist Trudeau’s landmark carbon tax

Canada on Monday imposed a landmark carbon tax on four provinces which had defied Ottawa’s push to combat climate change, prompting unhappy premiers to say they would challenge the measure.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, citing international commitments to fight global warming, had made clear for two years he would slap the tax on any of the 10 provinces that did not come up with their own plans by April 1.

The measure is opposed by Ontario, the most populous province, where Trudeau’s Liberals need to do well to stand a chance of retaining power in a federal election this October.

Carbon pollution will initially cost C$20 ($15) a tonne, rising by C$10 a year until it reaches C$50 in 2022. It also applies in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

July 11, 2018

“As of today, it’s no longer free to pollute anywhere in Canada,” Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said on Twitter.

Official data regularly show Canada has little chance of meeting its climate change goals of reducing emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

Canada will heat up twice as fast as the rest the world, with northern regions warming at an even greater pace, a Canadian environment ministry report said on Monday.

Smaller snow packs and a loss of glacier ice could mean water supply shortages in the summer, it added.

Trudeau says extreme weather events like forest fires and floods underline the need to combat global warming.

April 11, 2018

Although Ottawa says the money collected from the next tax will be returned to Canadians in the form of rebates, right-leaning parties portray it as a cash grab.

The Conservatives, who polls show could win the October election as a political scandal dogs Trudeau, promise to scrap the measure.

Ontario premier Doug Ford vowed to oppose what he called “the worst tax ever” in court.

“We’re going to keep fighting this carbon tax with every single tool at our disposal,” he said.

Trudeau’s other efforts to combat climate change are also proving a challenge. (Source: Reuters) 

 

Wednesday October 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 24, 2018

Doug Ford slams federal government’s carbon tax plan

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has come out swinging against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plans for carbon tax rebates.

Trudeau announced details of the plan Tuesday, saying provinces that have not implemented their own carbon taxation system will have one imposed on them by the federal government.

He promised, however, that the feds would return 90 per cent of the tax it collects in affected provinces directly to Canadians to keep the plan from being unaffordable.

Ford calls the rebates phoney, describes the carbon tax as an ineffective environmental protection measure, and vows he’s willing to take the province’s ongoing legal fight against it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Trudeau has said an Ontario family of four would receive $307 back through the rebates this spring, with that figure doubling by 2022.

Ford, whose Progressive Conservatives introduced legislation to scrap Ontario’s cap-and-trade system established by the former Liberal government, says Trudeau should be ready for a fight on the carbon tax issue and raised questions about the timing of the rebate announcement.

“The people of Canada are too smart to believe that Trudeau’s phoney rebates are anything more than a temporary vote buying scheme that will be discarded once the election is over,” the premier said in a statement. “In contrast, the carbon tax rip-off is forever.

Ottawa required all provinces to put a minimum price on pollution of $20 a tonne of emissions by Jan. 1.

Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick have not complied and will have a federal carbon levy on fuels as well as a cap-and-trade style system for large industrial emitters imposed on them.

Residents in those provinces will start getting federal rebates on their next tax return to offset the extra costs they will pay for everything from gasoline and groceries to home heating and electricity.

Ford has joined other provincial leaders in challenging the carbon tax in court. (Source: CTV) 

 

Saturday October 6, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 6, 2018

Canada’s fight against climate change is at risk

With Manitoba’s reversal this week of its plan to impose a carbon tax, it’s clear the federal government’s overall climate plan is in jeopardy. But that’s only part of the story.

Why did Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister ditch years of work to join with other conservatives like Doug Ford and Jason Kenney? Winnipeg Free Press columnist Don Lett puts it this way:

October 25, 2013

‘When you boil it all down, you have this: a premier with a penchant for erratic behaviour who willingly trashes two years of hard work by his own government, with the full knowledge he cannot stop a carbon tax from being implemented and will get all the money anyway.’

In this, Pallister is in good company. Doug Ford killed a working, revenue-generating cap-and-trade plan. Jason Kenney is against a carbon tax even though prominent conservatives, Preston Manning being one, support it. Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe attacks carbon pricing at every opportunity. Ford and Moe are committed to fighting the tax in court, even though legal experts agree the federal government has the right to impose it. Ford is prepared to waste $30 million on an unwinnable fight.

All taxes are unpopular. And it’s always good optics for provincial premiers to be seen as fighting Ottawa.

May 29, 2008

But there’s method in this madness. The premiers know, almost certainly, they can’t win a legal fight. But by pulling out and blaming Ottawa, they get the optics they want. And, they get the revenue from that nasty tax, because the government has pledged that all carbon tax revenue collected will be returned to the provinces it was collected from. Brilliant?

Maybe not. This strategy doesn’t work nearly as well if the Trudeau government imposes the tax and sends the cheques, probably through Revenue Canada, directly back to Canadian citizens, effectively cutting out the provinces. Trudeau takes the bold but necessary step of fighting climate change, but returns a tangible benefit to Canadian taxpayers. Continued: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday June 11, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 11, 2018

Ontario PC government cancels $100-million school repair fund

Ontario’s new Tory government has cancelled a $100-million fund earmarked for school repairs this year, a cut that comes as a result of Doug Ford’s campaign promise to scrap the province’s cap-and-trade system.

School boards were notified on July 3 that the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund would be eliminated and that only work contracted on or before that date would be covered.

The memo, obtained by The Canadian Press, advises school boards to stop spending the cash that was allocated in April immediately.

“Please maintain detailed records of the contracts that have been signed as ministry staff will contact boards to collect information on the scope of the work underway,” the memo said.

Toronto District School Board chair Robin Pilkey said the move is disappointing because that board has a $4 billion repair backlog.

The TDSB had budgeted $300 million for upkeep this fiscal year, including the $25 million it was awarded specifically from this fund, and now faces difficult choices, Pilkey said.

“Losing $25 million is a big deal to us,” she said. “Our repair backlog is so large that every piece counts. We’ll have to make decisions in the next few weeks whether we don’t do those projects or we take the money out of … other funds and scrap something else.”

The board had planned to use the funding to repair windows, lighting and complete other mechanical work in its schools, she said.

It’s unlikely much of the money has been spent, however, because the board must hire contractors through the proper procurement process, which takes time, she said.

“It’s not like you get the money on May 1 and can spend it on May 15,” she said. “It takes a while to get the money flowing.”

The province has an approximate $15 billion repair backlog at its 4,900 publicly funded schools.

Stephen Seaborn, spokesman for the education advocacy group Campaign for Public Education, said the cut will hurt schools across Ontario.

“It’s bad,” he said. “It was done just like as if it was nothing. There was no discussion about what would be done about the budgets of the schools.”

Seaborn said the cancellation of cap and trade has clearly had unintended consequences and cutting funds for the renovation program is a prime example. (Source: CTV News) 

 

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Thursday June 21, 2018

 

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 21, 2018

When the real carbon tax is imposed, you can thank Doug Ford

The carbon tax is dead.

Promise kept.

Just one problem — Ontario has never had a carbon tax.

Now, thanks to Doug Ford, we may be about to get one.

When a beaming Ford boasted to reporters Friday that “the carbon tax’s days are numbered” in Ontario — counting the days to his swearing-in as premier on June 29 — he was playing with words, as politicians do, whether or not they’ve taken the oath of office.

April 15, 2015

No, there is no carbon tax. Yes, Ontario has had a “cap-and-trade” system that put a price on carbon since 2017 — not by taxing people, but by making companies pay for spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Far from killing a (non-existent) carbon tax, Ontario’s incoming Progressive Conservative government is laying the groundwork for a brand new carbon tax of its own making. That’s because, as Ford’s very own Ontario PC Party acknowledged last year, Ottawa fully intends to impose a carbon tax in any province without a plan to fight global warming.

April 14, 2015

We live in interesting times when a U.S. president can unilaterally declare peace with a North Korean dictator while declaring war on a Canadian prime minister. Now, taking a page from Donald Trump, Ford is serving notice that he, too, is ready to do battle with Justin Trudeau.

Ontario’s incoming premier has set aside $30 million to fight a losing legal battle over Ottawa’s undisputed right to regulate the environment with carbon pricing. Virtually all legal and constitutional experts believe the federal government has an airtight case. But even if Ford’s Tories believe they have a stronger case, shouldn’t they level with the people of Ontario about the risk of losing in court?

Litigation, like politics, is inherently unpredictable. You can’t prevail in the Supreme Court of Canada merely by repeating campaign slogans. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

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