I’ll Explain the Carbon Tax Because Clearly Justin Trudeau Can’t
I just had a conversation where I was told it’s impossible to explain Trudeau’s carbon tax. I don’t really blame this person for thinking that it’s an impossible program to understand and that the benefits don’t actually exist. JT himself seems to have all kinds of issues communicating properly. When he steps in front of a mic to explain the tax, he’s an amateur at a comedy club. “Boo! Get off the stage, daddy’s boy!”
That said, just because our fearful leader can’t explain the tax, doesn’t mean it can’t be explained. So here I go, attempting to do just that.
Carbon Tax Explained
If you live in AB, SK, MB, ON, or the Maritimes, you are a part of the program. All others have their own carbon tax.
It was instituted as a piece of the emissions reduction strategy that came out of the Paris Agreement and other goal setting for a cleaner Canada.
The idea is to make dirty energy more expensive and cleaner energy cheaper to aid in the fight against climate change.
Consumers and businesses pay. But really big polluters are subject to more aggressive programs as well. Let’s face it, economic pressure is the only pressure anyone seems to understand anymore. If we rely on people to do what’s right just because it is, we’re stuck.
How the Finances Work
It started at $20/tonne and is now north of $80 with a max cap in 2030 of $170/tonne. This tax is imposed on emissions of CO2 and greenhouse gases. Right now, we pay between $8 — $12 per fill at a gas station.
All collected money is returned to individuals and families within the province it’s collected from. But it’s not really a rebate. It’s an upfront estimation that is issued to ensure low income earners aren’t hit in the wallet. The amount received depends on where you live and size of your household. So anytime you hear someone blame the carbon tax for their shrinking budgets, it’s quite literally impossible for the vast majority of people.
How the $ Flow
When you calculate the “rebate”, if you drive as much as the average Canadian, don’t have a higher than average emissions vehicle (think a Hummer or big truck), and you live in a fairly average family home, then chances are very good that you actually make money on the rebates. So basically, the rich tend to lose a bit but lower and middle income families generally make a bit of cash. In that way, it pretty much works as it should.
Now you might be wondering, how can people make money off of it? Well, don’t forget that businesses pay into it as well. And they pay a lot more than consumers.
The Negatives
Where the negatives come in is the losses to fossil fuel based businesses. They pay the most carbon tax and as such, some jobs, profits, dividends, etc are all affected. But that’s where the world has to go anyway. I guess, if you don’t believe in the disasterous consequences of climate change or in the idea itself, I can see how you feel this is horrible for Canada. I just gotta wonder how many negative climate records we have to keep smashing for people to realize it’s real.
But I digress.
Is the Carbon Tax Working?
It really depends on who you ask. Officials have stated that carbon emissions are down as a result, in fact we’re on track to our goals (which doesn’t often happen with government programs).
https://www.canada.ca/.../how-pricing-reduces.../data.html
And we do know that not acting on climate change can have disastrous consequences. We see it in the wildfire numbers, as well as our drastically changing weather.
https://canadiangeographic.ca/.../mapping-100-years-of.../
Now look, anyone that knows me knows I can’t stand Trudeau. But, I am in the middle politically and I can recognize when Mr Scandal and Spineless does something right.
Let’s Put a Bow on This
The fact of the matter is 80% of Canadians make money off of the carbon tax. So why is it so unpopular? Because it’s misunderstood, no one likes taxes (especially new ones), a lot of people don’t believe in climate change (like it’s not easy to prove), and it’s trendy to hate both JT and this tax.
The reality: it’s doing what it’s meant to do and when PP wins the election, all that progress will be gone (based on what he’s said) and most of the country will make less money.
I know Axe the Tax rhymes and therefor it must be true, but you need to spend longer than a few minutes watching sound bytes on the news about a topic that is going to sway your vote. If you can’t, that’s fine too. But don’t vote based on that which you don’t understand.
SPOILER ALERT: Politicians lie. So stop listening to them and start following the unbiased data. In the numbers, you’ll always find truth.
