When is a carbon tax a tax or a price on pollution?

Brian Zinchuk

Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online

Minister of Highways Lori Carr on March 4. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

At the beginning of each daily session of the Saskatchewan Legislature, members are given a minute or so to make statements on matters of importance to them or their ridings. Statements are not part of debates, and no rebuttals are made. On Monday, March 3. Saskatchewan Minister of Highways, MLA for Estevan Lori Carr, made the following statement regarding the government and opposition positions on the carbon tax:

As of January 1st, 2024, the Government of Saskatchewan has stopped collecting the federal carbon tax on home heating in Saskatchewan. As a result, according to Stats Canada, Saskatchewan’s inflation rate dropped from 2.7 per cent in December down to 1.9 per cent in January, well below the national average of 2.9 per cent.

Our position on the federal carbon tax has been crystal clear for years and so has the NDP’s [New Democratic Party]. In 2016 the member from Regina Walsh Acres tweeted, and I quote: “My take on the carbon tax and climate change — spoiler alert — I’m in favour,” he said. In 2016, the Leader of the Opposition voted against a motion that opposed the federal government’s plan to impose a national carbon tax.

In 2019, the member for Saskatoon Nutana said a need for a carbon tax is, and I quote, “not up for debate any longer.” The same member then said, “We don’t think of a carbon tax as a tax. This is a price on pollution and a necessary one.”

The NDP has been clear that when it comes to the federal carbon tax, they stand in lockstep with Justin Trudeau. But after realizing that Canadians weren’t falling for the pricing scheme, they now claim they’ve opposed the tax. Saskatchewan people know better, Mr. Speaker.

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