Latest news with #CarbonTaxAct
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
B.C. NDP fast-tracking end of consumer carbon tax. Eby says gas to drop 17 cents
British Columbia's government is fast-tracking the end of its consumer carbon tax ahead of the lifting of the federal equivalent on Tuesday, with Premier David Eby saying consumers should expect immediate price relief at the gas pumps. The NDP's bill amending B.C.'s Carbon Tax Act to set the consumer rate at $0 has passed its first reading, with B.C. Green MLA Rob Botterell the lone dissenting vote. Eby's government then successfully sought accelerated consideration to pass the legislation in one day, after a two-week break in sittings of the legislature. The premier says at a news conference that consumers should expect a gas price drop of 17 cents per litre when the consumer tax is lifted Tuesday. NDP House Leader Mike Farnworth had told the legislature the bill's passage was a "matter of confidence" for the government, and Speaker Raj Chouhan later ruled the bill sufficiently urgent and limited in scope to meet the test for fast-tracking. Opposition finance critic Peter Milobar had said the government could have dealt with the bill sooner by recalling the legislature, and instead it waited until the "11th hour." He said the government's approach has been "ham-fisted," unfairly cutting off discussion among members of the legislature. "We are essentially left to spend a couple of hours trying to quickly cobble together a cognizant response to something that has been in the public conversation for quite some time," Milobar said in the legislature on Monday. B.C. Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote, meanwhile, said his party couldn't support passing the bill in a single day. He said members of the legislature "need time to seek answers from government" about how it intends to resolve issues, including the end of the climate action tax rebate that B.C. residents had come to expect on a quarterly basis and the significant financial shortfall the end of the tax leaves for the province. "We don't consider that meeting the convenience of fuel producers or aligning with other provinces is sufficient grounds for urgency," Valeriote told the legislature. A joint statement issued by Eby's office and the ministries of energy and finance says cancelling the tax and credit will have an estimated impact of $1.99 billion in the coming fiscal year. "The province will restructure programs funded by carbon tax revenue to minimize the impact on B.C.'s budget, while supporting people in British Columbia in achieving climate goals," the statement says. Eby has said the province would continue to ensure big industrial emitters pay through the output-based carbon-pricing system. Tariff response rollback The legislative break also included a significant rollback of the government's proposed response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods. Monday's sitting is the first since Eby announced the removal of a portion of the controversial tariff response bill that would have given his cabinet sweeping powers to address challenges "arising from the actions of a foreign jurisdiction" without them being debated in the legislature. Eby said last week that the bill was still needed but required more safeguards after stakeholders raised concerns about overreach, while the Opposition B.C. Conservatives have said the whole thing needs to be scrapped. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will be bringing new "reciprocal" tariffs against Canada starting April 2, while Prime Minister Mark Carney has responded that Canada would implement new retaliatory tariffs if the president goes ahead.
CBC
31-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
B.C. NDP fast-tracking end of consumer carbon tax. Eby says gas to drop 17 cents
British Columbia's government is fast-tracking the end of its consumer carbon tax ahead of the lifting of the federal equivalent on Tuesday, with Premier David Eby saying consumers should expect immediate price relief at the gas pumps. The NDP's bill amending B.C.'s Carbon Tax Act to set the consumer rate at $0 has passed its first reading, with B.C. Green MLA Rob Botterell the lone dissenting vote. Eby's government then successfully sought accelerated consideration to pass the legislation in one day, after a two-week break in sittings of the legislature. The premier says at a news conference that consumers should expect a gas price drop of 17 cents per litre when the consumer tax is lifted Tuesday. NDP House Leader Mike Farnworth had told the legislature the bill's passage was a "matter of confidence" for the government, and Speaker Raj Chouhan later ruled the bill sufficiently urgent and limited in scope to meet the test for fast-tracking. Opposition finance critic Peter Milobar had said the government could have dealt with the bill sooner by recalling the legislature, and instead it waited until the "11th hour." He said the government's approach has been "ham-fisted," unfairly cutting off discussion among members of the legislature. "We are essentially left to spend a couple of hours trying to quickly cobble together a cognizant response to something that has been in the public conversation for quite some time," Milobar said in the legislature on Monday. B.C. Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote, meanwhile, said his party couldn't support passing the bill in a single day. He said members of the legislature "need time to seek answers from government" about how it intends to resolve issues, including the end of the climate action tax rebate that B.C. residents had come to expect on a quarterly basis and the significant financial shortfall the end of the tax leaves for the province. "We don't consider that meeting the convenience of fuel producers or aligning with other provinces is sufficient grounds for urgency," Valeriote told the legislature. A joint statement issued by Eby's office and the ministries of energy and finance says cancelling the tax and credit will have an estimated impact of $1.99 billion in the coming fiscal year. "The province will restructure programs funded by carbon tax revenue to minimize the impact on B.C.'s budget, while supporting people in British Columbia in achieving climate goals," the statement says. Eby has said the province would continue to ensure big industrial emitters pay through the output-based carbon-pricing system. Tariff response rollback The legislative break also included a significant rollback of the government's proposed response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods. Monday's sitting is the first since Eby announced the removal of a portion of the controversial tariff response bill that would have given his cabinet sweeping powers to address challenges "arising from the actions of a foreign jurisdiction" without them being debated in the legislature. Eby said last week that the bill was still needed but required more safeguards after stakeholders raised concerns about overreach, while the Opposition B.C. Conservatives have said the whole thing needs to be scrapped.
CBC
19-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
N.W.T. scrapping consumer carbon tax following federal cancellation
The Northwest Territories is cancelling its consumer carbon tax following last week's federal decision to kill the measure. The N.W.T. is one of three provinces and territories that has its own carbon tax legislation, something finance minister Caroline Wawzonek said would allow the territory more flexibility to adjust how the tax is applied to northerners. That means that federal changes don't automatically change the territory's legislation and the N.W.T. needs to undertake its own process. The change comes into effect April 1 with residents to receive their last quarterly cost of living offset (COLO) payment in April. The government isn't able to repeal the Carbon Tax Act since the legislature isn't in session. Instead it's making changes to set the tax value to zero — effectively ending the tax without formally repealing the act. Carbon pricing has been heavily criticized for punishing Northerners who don't have more ecological alternatives for heating their homes, despite COLO payments that some politicians say has reimbursed residents "significant amounts". How will it impact consumers? Cancelling the tax will mean a drop of about 20 cents per litre at the pump, about 20 cents per litre. If gas prices are $1.629/litre — as they were at one Yellowknife gas station March 18 — without the $0.176 tax, consumers will pay $1.45/litres. In February 2024, the territory announced a carbon tax exemption on diesel for home heating fuel. For those who heat their homes with propane, they'll save about $0.123 per litre without the tax. But changes also means residents will no longer receive rebates. Those payments came four times a year in July, October, January and April with a tiered system that has residents furthest north receiving the highest offset payment. A family of two adults and three children in Paulatuk, for example, had been receiving quarterly deposits of $2,542, which it will no longer receive after the final payment in April. The Government of the Northwest Territories had also expected to earn about $97.5 million in carbon tax revenues. In the 2023/24 fiscal year, the territory collected $68.7 million. It used the revenue to invest in emission-reduction projects with some of that money distributed to communities helping to reduce property tax hikes in Yellowknife. Revenue from the tax has also helped pay for a 3.5-megawatt solar plant at Diavik Diamond Mine through the large emitter grant program. 'Northerners want this off the books' MLAs have voiced concerns and critiques of the tax since it was introduced saying it makes life less affordable for residents, especially those in smaller communities. Yellowknife MLA Kieron Testart went as far as introducing a bill to repeal the carbon tax, which passed second reading and is in a committee review stage. On March 13 he again told the assembly that the N.W.T. should adopt the federal backstop to be ready for Prime Minister Mark Carney's change to scrap the tax. "Northerners want this off the books. They're tired of paying a consumer carbon tax. Canadians are tired of paying a consumer carbon tax. We shouldn't be waiting. We should be moving," he said. The finance minister and department staff declined an interview. But in astatement, the department said the territory doesn't need to adopt federal legislation since its structure allows for immediate changes when the federal system is changed, "as is being demonstrated by the Northwest Territories changes coming into effect on the same date as the federal changes." The changes don't apply to large emitters, like mines, that will continue to pay the tax and receive a 72 per cent rebate. Dale Beugin, executive vice president with the Canadian Climate Institute, has championed that tax on heavy emitters as key to meeting Canada's climate goals. "Those industrial carbon pricing systems across the provinces and territories are the single most important systems in terms of delivering on climate objectives," he said.
