New Brunswick Liberal leader squeezed on 2 sides over carbon taxes
PC government urges Holt to call for abolition, Green leader says she’s trying to be popular
New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt finds herself being squeezed from two directions on carbon taxes after her recent call for the federal government to cancel a scheduled increase to the rate.
The Progressive Conservative government is pushing her to go further and join them in urging Ottawa to abolish the tax altogether.
At the same time, the Green Party says she has fallen for Conservative misinformation and is pandering for votes while ignoring that rebates return most of the money to consumers.
"I think she sees this as a popular position to take," said Green Leader David Coon.
Green Party Leader David Coon says he thinks the Liberal leader's stance reflects what's seen as a popular decision. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
Last Friday Holt joined seven premiers, most of them Conservative, who are asking the Trudeau government to scrap a planned April 1 increase to the tax.
"At a time when so many New Brunswickers are struggling to make ends meet, it's unreasonable to ask them to pay more for a federal carbon tax increase," she wrote.
The tax will increase on April 1 from 14.3 to 17.6 cents per litre of regular unleaded gas.
Holt's statement didn't mention the rebates, which will be $760 for a New Brunswick family of four in the coming year, plus an additional $152 for rural households.
In the legislature Wednesday, Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said he was encouraged by Holt's statement, even though there was "some concern" she was flip-flopping for political gain.
"We'll give the leader of the opposition the benefit of the doubt, and we can clear this up right here and right now," Holland said, inviting her to co-sign a letter calling for the abolition of the tax.
Holt told reporters she decided to call for a freeze on the carbon tax rate because "we didn't trust that the Higgs government cared enough to do the things they could do to make life more affordable."
She has called for the government to repeal its legislated "carbon adjustor" mechanism that allows oil companies to pass on the cost of federal clean-fuel regulations to consumers.
That charge is 3.4 cents per litre this week.
Energy
and Natural Resources Development Minister Mike Holland introduced a
motion in the legislature Wednesday calling for Ottawa to abolish the
tax. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
The Liberals also want the government to remove the provincial sales tax from electricity bills, something it has so far refused to do.
Holland introduced a non-binding motion in the legislature Wednesday that would call for Ottawa to abolish the tax. MLAs will vote on it at a later date.
Holt pushed back at suggestions she was flip-flopping, saying her position has not changed but acknowledging this is the first year she has called for the cancellation of the annual increase.
The policy is designed to give customers an incentive at the point of purchase to look for alternatives to fossil fuels that warm the climate. It's also intended to make large-scale renewable energy more competitive.
Last year a report by the parliamentary budget officer concluded that 80 per cent of people in the seven provinces then under the federal system would come out ahead thanks to the rebates, with people with lower incomes benefiting the most.
"We estimate that most households will see a net gain, receiving more in rebates from Climate Action Incentive payments than the total amount they pay in the federal fuel charge," the report said.
New Brunswick only joined the federal system later in 2023 so the report didn't analyze the impact here.
Holt said Wednesday she was not persuaded by that report.
"We've seen different takes on who pays more where, so it's not clear to me how New Brunswickers … are reflected in the work," she said.
She also argued there is a "lag" between when people pay the tax and when they get their rebates.
"Paying more now to get a rebate three months from now doesn't respond to their reality."
The last rebate arrived in January and another one is due in April.
Holt asked Ottawa to "suspend" the increase until 2025 but didn't say what kind of hike — if any — should happen next year. She said it's too early to tell what economic conditions will exist.
Pierre
Poilievre spoke to reporters at a gas station in Saint John recently,
where he criticized the Liberal government's carbon tax. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
The 2023 parliamentary budget officer report also found the carbon tax adds costs to the overall economy, though that conclusion was criticized for not comparing it to the cost of doing nothing about climate change.
Last week federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre warned that if he wins the next election and scraps the federal carbon tax, a future provincial Liberal government could impose its own version.
Holt wouldn't rule that out, calling the question hypothetical.
The Liberal leader's statement last week promised "a bold made-in-New Brunswick plan that reflects our local reality and opportunities" if she becomes premier.
She said Wednesday that would include a ramping up of the electrification of more vehicles and buildings that would rely on non-emitting nuclear and hydro power from N.B. Power.
She also said she would encourage the development of more wind, solar and hydrogen power.
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"We'll give the leader of the opposition the benefit of the doubt, and we can clear this up right here and right now," Holland said, inviting her to co-sign a letter calling for the abolition of the tax."
Why should she put things in writing? Didn't Mikey's boss advise differently?
How to keep secrets from the public: Don't write anything down
Public servants in N.B. don't have to document their work, something advocates want done across Canada
Karissa Donkin · CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2022 6:00 AM ADT
"New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs stood alone at the podium on the afternoon of July 15, when he announced major changes to the province's health-care leadership.
In the span of a few minutes, Higgs dropped three bombshells: he shuffled out the province's health minister, fired the CEO of Horizon Health Network, and dismissed elected board members for both health authorities, replacing them with trustees."
"But when CBC News filed a right to information request to the Office of the Premier, asking for records about the premier's decision to make changes to health-care leadership, a search returned no records — nothing to help explain to the public how Higgs arrived at such a significant decision.
It's one of several examples of instances where the Higgs government failed to document its work, something public servants in New Brunswick aren't required to do by law.
The concept is called duty to document, and it's something transparency advocates have been calling for in Canada for years."
Too bad so sad that Mikey does not have any intestinal fortitude to expose his boss
Shift carbon price debate to large emitters, Green leader says
New report says price on major industries will reduce emissions far more than consumer carbon tax
With the federal carbon tax on consumers losing political support by the day, New Brunswick's Green leader says it's time to shift the debate to the pricing system for large industrial polluters.
David Coon says a recent report on climate policies shows that it's the most effective way to lower greenhouse gas emissions, so the province's regime should be toughened.
The study by the Canadian Climate Institute says the carbon tax on large emitters could yield emissions reductions six times as large as the tax on drivers.
"The focus does need, I think, to be placed much more on the industrial carbon tax," Coon said.
"We know industry responds well to market signals. They're always looking for ways to reduce their costs, and with the carbon tax increased on industrial polluters, they will look for ways to cut their carbon emissions."
There's growing momentum to eliminate the federal carbon tax on consumers, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre holding a large lead in polls as he vows to axe the tax if he becomes prime minister.
Last week New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt endorsed a call by him, other premiers and provincial Liberal leaders for Ottawa to suspend a scheduled increase to the tax next week.
When
he was in the province earlier this month, Conservative Leader Pierre
Poilievre criticized the federal Liberal government's carbon tax. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
It will rise to 17.6 cents from 14.3 cents on a litre of regular gasoline.
Coon has dismissed the argument that the tax contributes to affordability problems, accepting Ottawa's analysis that 80 per cent of Canadians — especially those with the lowest incomes — get more back in carbon rebates than they pay.
But he admits that many New Brunswickers lack transportation options so don't have the flexibility to give up driving gasoline-fuelled cars.
"If you don't have a choice to do anything but drive, what are you going to do? You're going to drive," he said.
"But with industry, they have choices about how they can minimize their exposure to the carbon tax, and that will benefit the environment."
Irving Oil, whose Saint John refinery is the province's largest emitter, has been exploring decarbonization options.
A U.S. company supplying the refinery with carbon-negative natural gas from biowaste said last year the industrial pricing system and federal climate policies made the deal viable.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt has called on the federal Liberals to suspend a planned hike of the carbon tax. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
The institute report projects existing climate policies will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada to 549 megatons in 2030, compared to 775 megatons if no policies were in place.
With other measures announced but not yet implemented, that number would go down further to 467 megatons, close to the target of 440.
Modelling shows the industrial pricing system will be responsible for 20 to 48 per cent of those reductions, while the consumer price will be accountable for eight to 14 per cent.
"We've really found that industrial carbon pricing is going to be the single biggest driver of emissions reductions between now and 2030," said Anna Kanduth, one of the report authors.
She said the consumer carbon tax still plays an important role in the emissions reduction scenarios, however.
"They all add up and every megaton of emissions reductions matters," she said.
"If one policy is taken off the table, other policies are going to have to be strengthened or new ones added to make up that difference."
Energy
Development Minister Mike Holland says large emitters would likely pass
any increased carbon-pricing costs on to consumers. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
While Poilievre has vowed to end the consumer carbon tax, he hasn't said if he would eliminate the pricing system for industry.
Coon said New Brunswick's industrial carbon price — designed by the provincial government and approved by Ottawa as complying with its policy — is too weak, taxing only "a tiny portion" of emissions.
The system requires major emitters to reduce emissions by two per cent each year until 2030, when they must reach 82 per cent of 2020 emissions levels.
Emitters that exceed the targets must pay a carbon tax on anything above the threshold, or buy tradable credits.
Critics say this in effect means they're not taxed on 82 per cent of their emissions.
Coon said the price should cover all emissions, "not just a tiny percentage of it."
But Energy Development Minister Mike Holland says large emitters would likely pass those costs on to consumers.
“We’ve
really found that industrial carbon pricing is going to be the single
biggest driver of emissions reductions between now and 2030,” said Anna
Kanduth, one of the report authors. (Submitted by Canadian Climate Institute)
"The conversation about taxation concerns me because it all winds up seeming to land in the pockets of New Brunswickers," he said.
"Is there a way we can reward large industrial users [who reduce emissions] rather than penalize?"
Provincial officials have also said a more stringent industrial carbon price would threaten New Brunswick companies with foreign competitors not subject to such taxes.
Holland said other initiatives, such as non-carbon-emitting small nuclear reactors and smart metres to allow people to calibrate their electricity consumption, are a better way to drive emissions down.
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