I know this might come as a surprise to some readers but I have never favoured a carbon tax.
I have written about the futility of this tax boondoggle. I even debated the subject with a BC Liberal Minister on the CBC years ago.
When the BC Liberals brought in their tax in 2008, it was with the promise it would be “revenue neutral”. Not sure what everyone else thought that meant but I thought it was an absurd concept. Over the years, what happened was the government collected the tax from the people of the province and handed most of the money to corporations to offset their costs.
Some money did go to low-income earners and seniors. But none of the money was put towards actually doing something about carbon emissions, such as building the once promised “hydrogen highway” or developing tidal, solar, wind, and geothermal power options for BC.
Yes, the increased cost of fuel did get a few people to switch fuels or think about alternatives to driving. But for the most part, it did not change our economy.
What it has mostly done is make everyone angry about another “government tax” taking money out of the pockets of ordinary citizens. It has resulted in the false notion that doing something about climate change means more taxes.
Which is one of the reasons Pierre Poilievre jumped on the “ax the tax” bandwagon. And why Kevin Falcon – the leader of BC United and one of the BC Liberals who introduced the provincial carbon tax in the first place – is now musing about dumping the tax.
It is also why Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals have made a complete mess of carbon pricing. Indeed, as one pundit in the National Post put it, “The carbon tax is dead. Trudeau did it in.”
After arguing in the Supreme Court of Canada the federal government had the authority to bring in a national pricing scheme for carbon because regions in this country could not be given special dispensation, he has gone ahead and done just that.
This will cost the Liberals the next election. But the real tragedy is that not doing something about our carbon emissions will cost our children their future.
Todd Whitcombe is a chemistry professor at the University of Northern B.C.
