Premier Susan Holt, seen here on Oct. 3 rolling out her platform, did not mention a cap-and-trade system. (CBC News, from pool camera)
It
took a campaign promise by Nova Scotia's Liberal leader on Monday to
shed new light on how New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt may try to
replace the federal carbon tax.
Holt was vague during her recent
election campaign about exactly what she would propose to Ottawa that
complies with the national pricing standard while removing the tax
consumers pay at gas stations.
But Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach
Churchill said Monday morning that he and Holt have discussed an
Atlantic Canada-wide cap-and-trade system similar to the one in Quebec.
"I have talked to Premier Holt," he told a news conference.
"She
agrees with this plan and we think we can convince other provinces to
work with us on a made-in-Atlantic-Canada solution to carbon pricing
that will take the price off the pumps and that actually meets the
federal legislative framework."
Churchill made the comments while announcing his party's platform for the Nov. 26 Nova Scotia election.
Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill in Halifax on Monday. (Mark Crosby/CBC)
Holt was considerably cagier when she rolled out her platform on Oct. 3.
She
said at the time she wanted a more "robust" carbon price on large
industrial emitters, coupled with federal recognition that many New
Brunswickers don't have transportation options and must drive vehicles
and buy gas that is subject to the tax.
"That's a conversation that we'll need to have with Ottawa," she told reporters.
"We're
going to go to Ottawa with a clear ask of what we want our industrial
price to be, what we're looking to do to incentivize and support New
Brunswickers to change their behaviour … and I am expecting a
willingness to have the conversation from the federal government."
Holt did not mention a cap-and-trade system.
The new premier spent most of Monday in the first meeting of her cabinet.
WATCH | 'I have talked to Premier Holt,' says N.S. Liberal leader on regional plan:
Hints of a Holt carbon tax plan — from Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia’s Liberal leader reveals details of his discussions with New Brunswick’s premier about carbon pricing.
Her
spokesperson Katie Beers said Holt spoke to Churchill Sunday night and
said she was "open to the idea but there are many details to figure out.
"We are working with the department now to get a better idea of what this solution could look like," Beers wrote.
The federal carbon tax adds 17.6 cents per litre of regular gasoline this year.
A
cap-and-trade system establishes an emissions limit and forces
industrial polluters who exceed it to buy credits — credits that are
earned by the emitters who stay below the cap, and that can be traded in
a trading market.
It's one form of carbon pricing that attaches a cost to emissions to create incentives to lower them.
New
Brunswick already has a credit-based pricing system on industrial
emitters, but it only covers a small portion of emissions and has been
criticized by the Green Party and some environmentalists as too weak.
More N.B. emitters above than below limit
Figures
released earlier this year by the province showed that so far, there
are more big emitters exceeding the limits than staying below them.
Data
provided by the Department of Environment and Climate Change showed the
province's 15 largest emitters of greenhouse gases bought almost 10
times as many emissions credits as they earned in 2022.
Experts said at the time that the regime was still new and it was too early to conclude it was too lenient.
Greens suggest joining Quebec
The New Brunswick Green Party's election platform called for the province to join Quebec's cap-and-trade market.
Leader David Coon said Monday he'll encourage Holt to go that route and was happy to see Churchill adopt the idea.
Holt "should have been clear when she was campaigning, as I was," he said.
Churchill
said Monday Atlantic Canada has "a real opportunity here" if he wins
Nova Scotia's election to get an agreement among the region's four
premiers on a stronger cap-and-trade system.
But he has been lagging far behind Nova Scotia PC Leader Tim Houston in polls.
Houston
opposes the federal carbon tax and has argued that other emissions
measures adopted by his government should be enough to satisfy the
federal government.
Jacques
Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick
since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in Ottawa for
the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on every New
Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio Television
Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and Amnesty
International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books about New
Brunswick politics and history.
"Holt was considerably cagier when she rolled out her platform on Oct. 3."
Surprise Surprise Surprise
Ronald Miller
I have a third cousin who is a nuclear engineer, maybe I will apply to be one.
David Amos Reply to Ronald Miller
Are you bilingual?
Lou Bell
Two cabinet ministers with experience , and one
was there solely as the head of the SANB , so just one who would
actually be doing work for all NBers .
Robert Brannen
Reply to Lou Bell
Which is apparently one more than existed in
the Higgs cabinet. In the Higgs cabinet, it would appear that if you
spoke up for even a few of your constituents that you would be summarily
dismissed from cabinet.
David Amos Reply to Robert Brannen
The big cheese of Public Safety was Higgy's Deputy Correct?
Lou Bell
The reason Ms. Holt failed to jump in on the green plan
was because she had no idea what a plan would look like , and still
doesn't . She's got looming billion dollar deficits and burgeoning debt
starting to pile on , courtesy of " the Pylon Party " of NB .
And where's my " immediate " HST reduction on my " hydro bill ?
David Amos Reply to Lou Bell
My hydro bill came before she was sworn in
Ronald Miller
Reply to Lou Bell
You have to wonder, did the Liberals know they
could not implement that tax cut right away and campaigned on falsehoods
or is their team so out to lunch on how taxes are implemented or cut
they did not realize it takes months to do it. Either way, this does not
bode well for NB taxpayers and the gov't handling our money now.
Lou Bell
Reply to Ronald Miller
Yes , she knew . In fact , the day after the
election she stated just that . That the plan would not be immediate and
would take until next April at the earliest to start . Obviously , Ms.
Holt either doesn't understand the meaning of " immediate " , or she
just outright l..d . I'd guess the 2nd and be right .
Matt Steele
Reply to Lou Bell
I know right? I was wondering why the HST on my power bill didn't vanish already. She was sworn in 3 days ago.
Jos Allaire
Expert scientists have been telling us about
climate change for decades and its effects that were to happen twenty
years from now are already upon us. The irony is that a lot of right
wing provinces and states are witnessing its catastrophic effects such
as extreme heat, drought, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, storms,
hurricanes and cyclones, yet remain in denial throughout. Problem is,
we're all going down together.
Dennis Woodman
Reply to Jos Allaire
Does China know this ?
Gerry Ford
Reply to Jos Allaire
Does India?
Gerry Ford
Reply to Jos Allaire
What about Russia, do they know?
David Amos Reply to Jos Allaire
Do you recall what I said about climate change 5 years ago?
It seems China knows something, considering they've rolled out 242.58 GW of new renewable energy so far in 2024 alone.
MR Cain
Reply to Dennis Woodman
Dougie does; he has embraced the price on
pollution and is handing out another $200 per taxpayer. Don't spend it
all in one place!
Dennis Woodman
Reply to Bob Leeson
Then why are they still opening coal plants ?
Gerry Ford
Reply to Bob Leeson
That's not the whole story though, the Chinese
government also has a target of bringing 80GW of new coal-fired
generation capacity online for 2024
Bob Leeson
Reply to Dennis Woodman
They only added 33.43 GW of thermal this year, and those
new plants are made to be idle until needed at times for peek demand.
While capacity grew a bit, the emissions from coal has been gradually
going down due to increasing idle time.
But you know all this already, because we've been over
it before, over and over. And Google is at your fingertips.
Dennis Woodman
Reply to Bob Leeson
Electricity from thermal sources rose 3.7% in August
from a year earlier to 614.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), according to
official data released on Sept. 14.
Thermal power in China is overwhelmingly coal-fired, with only a small amount coming from natural gas.
Bob Leeson
Reply to Dennis Woodman
They don't have a lot of natural gas in China.
And as I said, their total thermal capacity is unimportant compared to
the tends in emissions from thermal sources, which are being displaced
due to rapid, massive, implementation of renewables.
Jos Allaire
Reply to Dennis Woodman
No one is cleaning his mess, therefore I'm not
cleaning mine either. No one is picking up their 🐶💩 , therefore I am
not going to do it either type of mentality. We are doomed❗
Jos Allaire
Reply to Jos Allaire
We are doomed because of alike thinking selfish folks❗
David Amos Reply to Jos Allaire
Amen
Ronald Miller
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
Cleaning up after one's dog, and being charged for it to
a point it makes life harder financially, while millions don't do
anything, and thinking it is making a difference is a special kind of
s#$^&d.
Dennis Woodman
Reply to Bob Leeson
Renewables STILL can’t even meet new demand let alone replace ANY !
James Wolf
Only some women politicians are celebrated by this outlet.
David Amos Reply to James Wolf
C'est Vrai
valmond landry
if some of many countries would look after the environment as much as CANADA we would have a wonderful world to live in .
Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill in Halifax on Monday. (Mark Crosby/CBC)
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