Latest news with #SocialSharingBritishColumbia
CBC
19-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
End of consumer carbon tax means cheaper gas but leaves $1.5B hole in B.C. budget: business prof
Social Sharing British Columbia's budget shows that the impending end of the province's consumer carbon tax will leave a roughly $1.5-billion hole in its revenue streams, with one expert saying "there will be both winners and losers" from the change. The budget released earlier this month shows the province was forecasting revenue of just over $2.5 billion from the tax in the 2024-25 fiscal year, while the estimated cost of the climate action tax credit was $995 million. Werner Antweiler, associate professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, said that leaves about $1.5 billion in revenue the province will need to make up, which could include cutting spending or raising taxes elsewhere. Antweiler said the end of the consumer carbon tax will bring relief for drivers at the gas station — as much as about 17 cents per litre. However, he said the climate action tax credit targets low-income households, and those who have seen a significant benefit may lose out. WATCH | How will the end of the consumer carbon tax impact individuals? What does the cancellation of the carbon tax mean for your wallet? 2 days ago Duration 1:53 British Columbians will soon have to pay less when they fill up their gas tanks. The province and the federal government are cancelling the consumer carbon tax, effective April 1. But with the disappearance of the associated tax credit, will the cancellation put money back into British Columbian's pockets? People in lower-income households tend to drive less, especially in urban areas with transit systems, while wealthier people tend to drive more, Antweiler noted. That means some who had been receiving the climate action tax credit won't see equal savings at the pump once the carbon tax is scrapped, he said. It's also not clear how organizations that received money from the tax — including TransLink and B.C. Transit — will make up for the shortfalls. B.C. looking to make up shortfall The B.C. carbon price has been in place since 2008, when the province became the first jurisdiction in North America to impose such a levy. The first phase of the system was designed to be revenue neutral, returning the costs in the form of corporate and personal tax cuts, Antweiler said. As the price of carbon rose, he said the B.C. government took a "double dividend" approach by using some of the revenue to fund climate action initiatives while returning some of it to consumers with a climate action tax credit. The province now faces a "significant shortfall," he said. WATCH | Climate solutions minister Adrian Dix says politics has undermined carbon tax's value: B.C. will do away with provincial consumer carbon tax, energy minister says 34 minutes ago Duration 11:04 Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix said his government will follow through on a pledge to eliminate B.C.'s own consumer carbon tax in response to U.S. tariffs, among other measures. Premier David Eby has said work was underway in the Finance Ministry to make sure B.C. is "able to accommodate this commitment within the budget." He made the comment when announcing on Friday that his government would follow through on its promise to repeal the consumer carbon tax after Prime Minister Mark Carney moved to eliminate the federal version of the levy. Energy Minister Adrian Dix was also asked how the province plans to replace the lost revenue at an unrelated news conference on Monday. He said legislation would be introduced before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, and the finance minister would provide further details. Dix said the tax had been effective but that it had been politicized beyond the point of usefulness. "The debate about climate change has become a debate about the carbon tax," he said in an interview with CBC's The Early Edition. "[It's] undermined the overall effort to address climate change." Eby said cost-of-living pressures and the pending removal of federal carbon pricing for consumers showed there was no longer support for the levy. Still, he said B.C. would ensure "big polluters continue to pay" for their emissions as the province retains its carbon pricing system for large industrial emitters. "Not because we want them to have to be taxed, but to encourage them instead to adopt the technologies that reduce emissions," the premier said. WATCH | How will Canada tackle emissions as the consumer carbon tax is lifted?: What's next for climate action with consumer carbon tax ending? 3 days ago Duration 2:31 The Opposition B.C. Conservatives have previously voiced concern that Eby's government would scrap the consumer carbon price, then boost charges on businesses, which would still affect consumers in the end. The B.C. Greens issued a statement last week saying the decision to end the tax and associated rebate "leaves many questions unanswered," including how the government will make up the revenue. The Greens have long called for adjustments to carbon pricing "to make it more fair, so that big industrial polluters pay the same per tonne of carbon as everyday British Columbians. Now is the time to fix that imbalance, not abandon climate action altogether," the statement from Interim Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote said.
CBC
25-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
B.C. Opposition leader wants to hit U.S. with 'carbon tax' on coal shipments
Social Sharing British Columbia Opposition Leader John Rustad has found a carbon tax he likes, proposing such a levy on U.S. thermal coal shipped out of provincial ports as a way to pressure the White House not to impose fresh tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. Rustad said the tax on U.S. coal could be a "tool to fight back" on softwood tariffs and duties proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has also proposed tariffs on all Canadian exports. "We need to be able to create the environment to have a deal with the Americans. We can't carry on like this on softwood lumber," Rustad said on Monday. Rustad was ejected from the former BC Liberal party in 2022 after questioning the role of carbon dioxide emissions on climate change and has long been a critic of B.C.'s own carbon tax. On tariffs, he and the B.C. Conservatives had previously said B.C. should avoid retaliating and instead focus on growing B.C.'s economy. Duriing question period in the B.C. legislature, Premier David Eby complimented the B.C. Conservative leader for seeking ways to retaliate against the tariff threat, calling it a "significant departure." But Eby said taxing U.S. coal travelling through B.C. ports on its way to other export markets would pose major challenges. "It's an export good that goes through a federally regulated port, and we can't place export taxes on products like that," Eby said. Idea of taxing coal previously proposed The idea of taxing thermal coal shipments in response to U.S. tariffs has been floated before in B.C. In 2017, then-premier Christy Clark proposed a levy adding about $70 per tonne of coal exported through B.C. ports in response to skyrocketing tariffs on softwood lumber exports on B.C. Clark's overall response to the softwood lumber dispute was deemed reckless and irresponsible by then-NDP leader John Horgan. Softwood lumber has been a flash point between Canada and the United States for decades. The United States has applied anti-dumping and countervailing duties on softwood products, while Canada has taken its arguments to the World Trade Organization and challenged the duties under both NAFTA and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. Last week, Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said combined U.S. duties and tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber could increase to more than 50 per cent. WATCH | Ravi Parmar pushes back against softwood lumber tariffs: B.C.'s forests minister pushes back against Trump tariff threats in California 10 days ago Duration 2:11 B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar was in California this week on a trade mission, making the case against tariffs, which would be layered on top of existing softwood lumber duties and could be devastating for B.C.'s already struggling forestry sector. As Katie DeRosa reports, officials in California say Canadian lumber will be key to their wildfire-rebuilding efforts Rustad distinguished between retaliating against the Americans with tariffs and applying a "graduated carbon tax" that would be increased until B.C. got a softwood lumber deal. He said 18 million tonnes of U.S. thermal coal was shipped through Vancouver, but the province doesn't use it. "Until such time as the unfair and unwarranted American duties on our softwood are removed, we need to be ready to hit the Americans where it hurts," Rustad said in a statement. Meanwhile, the governing NDP called for unanimous endorsement for a motion condemning Trump and backing the national plan for "strategically targeted retaliatory action." The motion was passed — but not unanimously — in voting late Monday. Five no votes all came from B.C. Conservative members: Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream's Tara Armstrong, Vancouver-Quilchena's Dallas Brodie, Surrey South's Brent Chapman, Peace River North's Jordan Kealy and Chilliwack North's Heather Maahs.
