File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: How did the carbon tax become such a controversial policy?

Nov 3, 2023 | 12:30 PM

IT’S BIZARRE TO SEE HOW MUCH of a political football the carbon tax has become when its introduction 15 years ago was relatively free of drama.

B.C. was the first jurisdiction in North America to introduce a broad-based carbon tax in 2008.

When former Kamloops mayor Terry Lake was promoted to the environment ministry by Premier Christy Clark in 2011, he championed the carbon tax, which applies to the fossil fuels that create 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the province.

The policy was revenue neutral, meaning in theory, every dollar that a person spent in carbon tax was returned in various other rebates and tax breaks.

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The NDP were in opposition at the time and had been pressing the government to put a price on emissions, so they certainly raised no major complaint.

As the B.C. Liberals continued in government, the tax gradually rose. Today, it is $65 per tonne, or about 14 cents per litre of gasoline and 17 cents per litre of diesel fuel. When it comes to home heating, it amounts to about 12 cents per cubic metre of natural gas.

At the same time, other jurisdictions began implementing their own carbon pricing schemes. The Trudeau government brought in a federal requirement for all provinces and territories to implement a carbon tax in 2019. The provincial NDP removed revenue neutrality when it came to power in 2017.

So if pricing emissions in an effort to drive them down is growing in popularity around the world, and it was welcomed by all political stripes when it was introduced here in B.C., why has it become so controversial?

The carbon tax is, of course, an expense, but for many people in smaller communities, rural and remote areas, it’s a symbol.

People who live in smaller communities are hit disproportionately by this tax.

We have to pay more for transportation of people and goods – and in many cases, we have to pay more to heat our buildings.

If you already feel city folk look down on rural folk, this seems like a very concrete example.

Conservative politicians have picked up on it and folded the carbon tax into the culture wars.

Now that the Trudeau government has already blinked once, it has opened the door to legitimate questions about whether the policy should be manipulated for political gain.

It’s the beginning of the end of the carbon tax — for better or worse.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.