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By Michael Reeve

CARBON TAX

TRU professor says removal of consumer carbon tax leaves gap in Canada’s emission reduction plan

Mar 17, 2025 | 5:19 PM

KAMLOOPS — New Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to eliminate the consumer carbon, with British Columbia Premier David Eby stating he will now scrap the April 1 increase and remove the provincially implemented tax.

The difference should be quickly noticeable for Canadians, according to Joel Wood, an Environment Economist and Associate Professor at Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

“Gasoline prices will definitely respond,” Wood said. “There is a lot of evidence with recent gasoline tax holidays in Alberta, and elsewhere, where removing gasoline tax, almost all the savings are passed on to consumers. So we will definitely see a response in gasoline prices.”

The removal of the carbon tax however leaves a massive hole in the country’s work to lower emissions by 2030.

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“It’s really unclear whether they will be able to implement policies to fill that gap that removing the carbon tax leaves,” Wood added.

The Liberals are now closer to the Tories in a number of opinion polls, however Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo stated his party will go a step further if they form the next government.

“We would remove the carbon tax completely,” Caputo, the Conservative MP, said. “The reality is when you put the carbon tax on one group it gets passed on to another, ultimately the consumer has to pay.”

“If something cost a dollar and then you add 25 per cent tax, the ultimate cost is $1.25, the consumer is not going to pay the dollar, they are going to pay the $1.25.”

While the Prime Minister’s moves last week reduced the carbon price to $0, it did not repeal the legislation, leaving questions for the Kamloops MP.

“In fact I think he actually lied to Canadians, he did something quite performative, it was actually quite Donald Trump-esque, by signing something,” Caputo said. “That is not how an Order In Council is made.”

“[The Prime Minister] told Canadians he is eliminating the carbon tax, he can’t do that. That can only be done by legislation. The rate of the carbon tax can be done, but that is done by the Governor General, it’s not done by signing something.”

Wood stated while the Liberal plan does keep the carbon price on heavy industry, unlike Caputo, he doesn’t expect significant costs to trickle down to consumers.

“It remaining on large industrial emitters is good. And we have seen throughout Canada, governments of all stripes using these types of industrial carbon pricing systems. The first one was implemented in Alberta in 2007,” noted Wood.

Parliament is set to return from prorogation next week, unless an election is called.