EDITO: Guilbeault wrongly on carbon taxes

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Former federal environment minister Catherine McKenna said Liberals know that « if you say it louder, we learned in the House of Commons, if you say it again, if you say it louder, if it’s your talking point, people are going to totally believe it. »

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Current Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault clearly believes in this approach, as he insists that 80% of households who pay Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax end up getting off financially thanks to carbon tax refunds.

He claimed it last week when he criticized Nova Scotia Environment Minister Tim Halman for asking the federal government to delay an impending increase in the federal carbon price in his province.

Guilbeault replied that there is nothing stopping Nova Scotia from voluntarily introducing Trudeau’s carbon tax to Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where 80% of households end up getting by. financially through carbon tax refunds.

But Yves Giroux, parliament’s independent and nonpartisan budget director, has been saying since March that claim is inaccurate.

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He said that when the full cost of carbon pricing is taken into account, including the reduction in Canada’s GDP, the reduction in total labor income and business investment, 60% of households end up in a financial situation. harder with Trudeau’s carbon tax system.

Giroux estimated that the average Ontario household will be $360 worse off this year, with Trudeau’s carbon price being $50 a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, rising annually to $1,461 in 2030. when Trudeau’s carbon tax hits $170 a tonne.

He said the average Alberta household will be $671 worse off this year, increasing annually to $2,282 in 2030; the average Saskatchewan household has deteriorated by $390 this year, increasing annually to $1,464 in 2030, and the average Manitoba household having deteriorated by $299 this year, increasing annually to $1,145 in 2030.

Although his report did not include the potential benefits of climate change mitigation, Giroux told the National Post that expecting any of those benefits to materialize by 2030 is “extremely optimistic.”

But Guilbeault isn’t referencing Giroux’s findings at this time — odd given that the Liberals constantly cite his 2020 report which concluded most households paying the carbon tax were better off financially.

But that was before he calculated the full cost of Trudeau’s carbon tax on the economy.