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By Simon Little / Global BC

Carbon Tax

B.C. will scrap ‘consumer carbon tax’ if Ottawa drops federal backstop: Eby

Sep 12, 2024 | 2:52 PM

VANCOUVER — BC NDP Leader David Eby says the province will scrap its consumer carbon price if the federal government drops its legal backstop requiring provinces to have one.

Eby announced the policy shift Thursday at a campaign event in Vancouver, in response to a question from Global News.

The comments come after federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh criticized consumer carbon pricing, arguing it puts “the burden on the backs of working people” while “big polluters” aren’t paying their fair share.

Eby said there had been a consensus on carbon pricing in B.C. for a generation, but that due to a series of decisions by the federal government, including “unsustainable hikes” and “treating different provinces differently,” the issue had become politicized “in a way that’s incredibly unfortunate.”

“A lot of British Columbians are struggling with affordability, and the political consensus we had in B.C. has been badly damaged by the approach of the federal government decides to remove the legal backstop requiring us to have a consumer carbon tax in B.C., we will end the consumer carbon tax in B.C.,” Eby said.

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“Because we believe that climate change is real and not a hoax and that we are required to take action on climate change for our kids … and for all of our communities, we will ensure the big polluters pay the carbon price in our province to make sure we are taking action on climate change while protecting people.”

Eby said the province’s carbon pricing would remain unchanged unless the federal backstop was removed.

He added that he still believes a price on carbon “can be an effective tool.”

Carbon pricing has become a heated issue at both the federal level and the provincial level in the run-up to the B.C. election.

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad says he will end B.C.’s carbon pricing system if elected, but could only do so if the federal Liberal government is voted out.

Rustad says he would formally initiate an order to end the carbon price as soon as the writ is dropped for a federal election.

Carbon pricing in B.C. was implemented in 2008 by the former BC Liberal Party. It increased to $80 per tonne in April 2024.