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By Dylana Kneeshaw

BC CARBON TAX

What federal carbon tax decisions mean for B.C

Nov 7, 2023 | 8:37 AM

KAMLOOPS — Discussion around the carbon tax is ramping up, amid calls for more federal exemptions and a proposed plan from BC’s official opposition to scrap the tax.

Some MLAs want to see the tax removed to reduce heating bills and gas prices during a cost of living crisis, while environmental economists say those alterations would undermine the purpose of the carbon tax.

Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone is one of several BC United MLAs who have been calling for the province to scrap the carbon tax on home heating fuels and eliminate the provincial fuel tax. Stone recently spoke with CFJC Today about his concerns around how expensive it is to heat a home or gas up a car.

“But you need a premier that’s at the front of that parade that’s actually fighting for that to happen on behalf of the people that live here.” says Stone, “Inexplicably, David Eby is missing in action on this.”

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Stone feels BC should be following what other provinces and federal parties are pushing for. Monday (Nov. 6), a proposal from the federal Conservatives backed by the federal NDP to expand carbon tax exemptions to all forms of home heating was rejected.

“When you have Rachel Notley in Alberta, you’ve got Wab Kinew, the new NDP premier in Manitoba, you’ve got the federal NDP that have now said they’re going to join calls by the Conservatives to expand the carbon tax relief to all forms of home heating — you have the federal NDP on board with that,” says Stone, “It’s like, wake up David Eby and jump on board.”

However, Thompson Rivers University environmental economics professor Joel Wood says the proposed changes would undermine what the carbon tax does, and could impact certain tax credit returns in B.C.

“Some of the policies tied to that, like the low income climate action refundable tax credit, well that would probably be going away, too, if you’re removing the carbon tax from a large chunk of the carbon tax base,” adds Wood.

On the provincial scale, Wood says the carbon tax is having a more noticeable contribution to emissions targets than what has been seen federally so far.

“We had a much larger increase in economic activity, increase in population. You have to take those factors into account when you try to figure out how much emissions have gone down,” he explains. “In B.C.’s case, they’ve gone down compared to what they would have been otherwise.”

Ultimately, B.C.’s carbon tax situation also depends on whether the federal government decides to keep raising the national carbon pricing benchmark.

“If the federal government starts moving away from that or creating more exemptions, then it’s not clear what’s going to happen in the future, whether B.C. can start doing exemptions or not increasing the carbon tax as much as they have been planning to.”