Despite Justin Trudeau’s promise that the federal carbon tax would give Canadians a “cleaner environment and more money in their pockets,” that amount is only about $4 per week.
Under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, Canadian taxpayers ponied up $2.81 billion in extra costs on groceries, fuel and home heating in 2018. According to access to information records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Climate Action Incentive rebates returned to Canadians amounted to only $1.95 billion, or an average of $4 per week.
There was significant variation depending on province, however.
– $174.28 per claim in New Brunswick – $3.35 per week.
– $202.85 per claim in Ontario – $3.90 per week.
– $231.12 per claim in Manitoba – $4.44 per week.
– $422 per claim in Saskatchewan – $8.12 per week.
Almost nine million Canadians filed for the rebate in 2018. The kickback would be dependent on factors like location and number of household members, but the government’s own report shows the tax clearly collected more from Canadians than was returned, despite assurances of revenue neutrality.
The Canada Revenue Agency has yet to release the figures for the 2019 carbon tax rebates.
The Act capped the carbon tax at the equivalent to 12 cents per litre for gasoline, but the government recently said that the cap would be lifted to 38 cents per litre by 2030. The carbon tax is currently priced at $30 per tonne, but that figure will be pushed to $50 by next year and will be as high as $170 per tonne by 2030.
If Canadians spend even $20 on gasoline per week, the $4 rebate does little to mitigate the rising cost of goods due to the carbon tax.
This widespread tax was explored in-depth in True North’s exclusive documentary Green Hypocrisy.
