By Rebel News | Created at 2024-11-05 22:26:38 | Updated at 2024-11-06 01:58:37
5 hours ago
A new report on the carbon tax says that while the Northwest Territories generated a net revenue from its collection, energy costs remain incredibly high for residents.
As part of the territory’s 2023-2024 carbon tax report, its Legislative Assembly collected $68.7 million in carbon tax revenues last year, generating $14 million in profit for government coffers for various climate initiatives and other programs.
However, the government paid $18 million to the cost-of-living offset (COLO) last fiscal year, with payments adjusted regionally to account for heating fuel use. Residents in colder, higher fuel-use areas receive higher payments from the fund.
This didn't sit well with northern public policy specialist and professor Ken Coates, who told CBC News that reading the report made him “wish” Canada never introduced a carbon tax.
“Because, in the North, this just does not make a lot of sense,” Coates said, noting the carbon tax is making an expensive situation worse, especially for rural locales.
In October 2023, the Trudeau government announced a three-year reprieve for oil used to heat residential buildings, as well as the doubling of the rural reprieve. That excludes diesel fuel, which Coates says is not helpful.
In addition, a significant change this fiscal year will be the elimination of the territory’s heating fuel rebate.
The report says the increased COLO payments are meant to help cover the additional costs that residents now face.
“People in the Northwest Territories, particularly in remote areas, know very well that the cost of diesel fuel is sky-high. It costs an enormous amount of their monthly income to actually just keep their house heated,” Coates said.
Territorial rebates “come nowhere close to matching up with the cost of energy in southern Canada.”
Of all the provinces and territories, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) says only the N.W.T.’s economy benefits from the tax. However, it costs households “big time for gas, home heating bills and everything else," said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director.
“The carbon tax is a huge drag on the Canadian economy that we just can’t afford,” he added.
By 2030, the carbon tax will cost the Canadian economy $30 billion, or an estimated $678 per person based on Statistics Canada population projections.
Other government data says Canada’s GDP will fall $25 billion in 2030 due to the carbon tax.
Meanwhile, Environment and Climate Change Canada has been faulted time and time again for not explaining the impact of carbon taxes and other measures to the public.
Terrazzano says taxpayers have had enough. “Trudeau should stop wasting money, stop punishing Canadians and scrap the carbon tax,” he writes.
A 2023 report, Emission Reductions Through Greenhouse Gas Regulations, depicted federal climate programs as guesswork.
“The federal government does not know whether it is using the right tools to reduce emissions,” wrote Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco. “Solutions exist,” he said, but they are being implemented “much too slowly.”
A Department of Environment manager previously said the carbon tax had minimal impact in reducing emissions, which have risen every year since the 2020 pandemic lockdowns and travel bans.
National Inventory figures showed emissions in N.W.T. have increased year over year since the pandemic.
The carbon tax is currently worth 12¢ per litre of propane, 15¢ per cubic metre of natural gas, 18¢ per litre of gasoline, 20¢ per litre of aviation fuel and 25¢ per litre of heating oil. A 23% increase is due next April 1.
Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
