The prime minister is winning the carbon pricing fight, he shouldn’t back down now

Over the coming weeks, the federal government will have to make big decisions that will determine just how effective Canada’s carbon price will be at reducing emissions. Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick have all proposed weaker carbon pricing systems for their industrial emitters and are now asking the feds to allow them to implement those weaker standards. It may seem inconceivable that the federal Liberals would allow provinces to undermine their hard-fought success on carbon pricing. After all, they spent a lot of their political capital in the last Parliament to develop and implement their carbon pricing system—not to mention winning re-election defending their approach to pricing carbon. But the prime minister might feel inclined to bend to the will of Alberta, given how much media attention has been paid to the demands of oil-producing provinces since the election. So far the federal government has been silent on these provincial proposals, in sharp contrast to the vigorous public and legal defence of the federal system over the last three years. The final decision will have significant implications for the effectiveness of a flagship climate policy, whether the country gets closer to or further from its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, and for fairness between provinces. First, allowing provincial carbon pricing systems that are significantly weaker than the federal carbon pricing backstop means that Canada’s carbon emissions will be higher. All three proposals will exempt more industrial carbon emissions from the carbon tax compared to the federal backstop, though in different ways. Ontario and New Brunswick will be exempting almost all industrial carbon emissions from their proposed carbon price. This is hardly the way to incentivize emission reductions. Although Alberta’s planned carbon price will apply to a higher percentage of emissions than the other two provinces, it is lower than the federal benchmark. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has also not committed to increase the carbon price beyond 2020, whereas the federal one increases every year through 2022. If granted, the Alberta changes will also benefit the least efficient industrial emitters at the expense of the least polluting. (It should be noted that Alberta’s system would have a higher carbon price for coal plants than the federal backstop, giving a greater incentive for utilities to reduce carbon emissions.) Second, weakening the carbon price puts Canada even further from meeting our international climate commitments. Alberta and Ontario are the two most polluting provinces, together making up more than half of Canada’s carbon emissions. To close the gap to our Paris emission reduction commitments, climate policies need to be strengthened—not watered down. Third, a carbon pricing system that is not seen as equitable across provinces could introduce even more inter-provincial tensions. What will governments and citizens think in provinces, such as British Columbia and Quebec, with their own industrial systems that are on par with the federal backstop? Or in Saskatchewan, where the federal carbon price applies? Will these provinces cry foul? And what will it mean for the political durability of the system? The legal situation is somewhat different for Alberta. The previous Alberta government implemented a carbon tax comparable to the federal carbon pricing backstop, and now Premier Jason Kenney is proposing a weaker system. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, meanwhile, were given the opportunity to develop their own carbon pricing system by last fall’s deadline. Both thumbed their noses at the Trudeau government, which is why the federal pricing system was applied in those provinces, and was supposed to stay in place until 2022. Regardless of the political math, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may feel that he needs to allow weaker systems in all three provinces, in the interest of federal-provincial harmony. But for the country, that will mean less effective climate policies, higher carbon emissions, and provincial unfairness. Canadians voted for climate action in the last election. The prime minister needs to continue to vigorously defend the policy he ran on and won. Dale Marshall is the national climate Program Manager at Environmental Defence. The Hill Times

The prime minister is winning the carbon pricing fight, he shouldn’t back down now

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The prime minister is winning the carbon pricing fight, he shouldn’t back down now

Canadians voted for climate action in the last election. The prime minister needs to continue to vigorously defend the policy he ran on and won.

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