The Trudeau government has refused to say whether or not the carbon tax has made any impact on emissions.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a report released on December 20 by Environment Canada estimated that greenhouse gas emissions increased from 716 million tonnes in 2017 to 723 million tonnes in 2018, the biggest increase since 2014.
“Current estimates do not yet fully account for future reductions from green infrastructure, clean technology and innovation,” said the report.
The December 20 report has since been withdrawn. Environment Canada would not confirm their previous estimates when asked by Blacklock’s.
While the federal government has promised the carbon tax will not exceed $50 a tonne in 2022, it was revealed in September that the federal government has been secretly planning on increasing the carbon tax since 2017.
“The overall approach to pricing carbon pollution will be reviewed by 2022 to ensure that it is effective and to confirm the path forward, including future price increases,” an internal report from February 2017 stated.
The report conflicts with a statement then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna made in 2019 saying the carbon tax will not increase after 2022.
“The price will not go up. The plan is not to increase the price post-2022. We are doing exactly what we said we’d do,” McKenna said in June.
Despite the eagerness of environmental groups to raise the carbon tax further, real-life examples suggest a carbon tax makes little difference.
When a carbon tax was implemented in British Columbia from 2007 to 2017, carbon emissions only decreased by 0.46%. The carbon tax was one of many measures British Columbia has used to try to decrease emissions.
Environment Canada did not respond to True North’s request for comment.
