ECA Review 2023-01-05

2 January 5'23 HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB. ECA REVIEW
OPINION
The opinions expressed are not necessarily
the opinions of this newspaper.
VIEWPOINT
Trudeau giving
Quebec a special
deal on carbon taxes
by Franco Terrazzano,
Canadian Taxpayers Federation
All provinces are equal. But one
province is a little more equal in the
eyes of Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau.
Next year, taxpayers in every province
will have to pay his government’s
mandatory minimum carbon tax rate.
Every province but one: Quebec.
Quebec started in early on carbon
taxes, establishing a cap-and-trade
system with California in 2014, when
Stephen Harper was prime minister.
Then in 2018 the Trudeau government
imposed a carbon tax backstop to
be paid by any province that hadn’t
made its own arrangements to implement
a carbon
tax.
“
Under it, nine
provinces and
the three territories
are required
to raise the
carbon tax to 14
cents per litre of
gas next year,
going to 37 cents
per litre by 2030.
But the backstop
doesn’t apply to
Quebec.
Though theoretically
there’s
advice.
no limit to the
province’s capand-trade
cost,
which is the result of demand and
supply, it’s currently nine cents per
litre of gas. Next year, by law, it must
stay above five cents per litre. But
nothing requires it to be higher than
that. Meanwhile, everyone else in
Canada will be paying 14 cents per
litre.
In 2030, Quebec’s carbon tax is forecast
to reach 23 cents per litre of gas.
But everyone else will be paying 37
cents per litre. That means that in
2030, an Ontario family will pay $10
more when they fuel up their minivan
because of the carbon tax than drivers
in Trudeau’s Montreal riding.
Even La Presse notes that Quebec’s
tax “is much less than in the federal
system.”
The key part of the federal backstop
is “ensuring that carbon pricing is
in place across Canada at a similar
level of stringency.” But if there’s supposed
to be a “similar level of
stringency,” then why will Quebec’s
tax cost be 14 cents per litre less by
2030?
Is there some scientific reason to
explain Quebec’s lower tax? Or is it
because Ottawa’s carbon tax is about
Instead of
bullying Nova Scotia
the prime minister
should be asking
Nova Scotians for
politics, not the environment?
Compare Quebec with Nova Scotia
and it’s clear it’s the latter. Nova Scotia
currently has a provincial cap-andtrade
carbon tax, too. And Nova Scotia
has reduced its emissions by 36 per
cent since 2005, Quebec only by 12 per
cent. But Ottawa isn’t letting Nova
Scotia off. Beginning next year, Nova
Scotians will have to pay the higher
federal tax, too — though Quebec gets
to keep its system.
Instead of bullying Nova Scotia the
prime minister should be asking Nova
Scotians for advice. The province’s
carbon tax now costs about two cents
per litre of gas, by far the lowest rate in
Canada. Yet since 2005, Nova Scotia
has somehow
managed to
reduce its emissions
more than
every other province
except New
Brunswick.
On the other
hand, British
Columbia had the
highest carbon
tax in Canada for
years yet B.C.’s
emissions
increased by
about eight per
cent between 2015
and 2019.
Canada’s emissions
also
increased during the first year of
Trudeau’s national carbon tax.
The federal government is misleading
Canadians about Quebec’s
preferential treatment. It’s not the first
time the government has misled
Canadians about the carbon tax.
Before the 2019 election, Trudeau’s
then-environment minister said the
government had “no intention” of
raising the carbon tax beyond 11 cents
per litre of gas. But it’s being cranked
up to 37 cents per litre by 2030.
The Trudeau government
also claims “families are going to
be better off” with its carbon tax-andrebate
scheme.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer
(PBO) shows that’s magic math. In the
four provinces the PBO studied, the
federal carbon tax will cost the
average household between $402 and
$847 in 2023, even after the rebates.
The last thing Canadians need is
Ottawa raising costs and stoking
national division. There’s an obvious
solution: scrap the federal carbon tax
and lower gas prices and heating bills
across Canada.
“
© Troy Mediacopy
VIEWPOINT
Faith brings out
the best in us
by Ray Pennings and
Andrew Bennett
Christmas is one of the few times in
Canada that religion makes a public
appearance. Nativity scenes depicting
the birth of Jesus Christ pop up on
lawns. Radio stations belt out sacred
music among generic holiday tunes.
News media may even report on a
church’s special Christmas meal.
By Boxing Day, we typically consign
religion to its usual place behind
closed doors in private homes or
houses of worship.
However, perhaps in 2023 we can
move toward a better way: deep pluralism,
where Canadians can publicly
be their authentic selves, religious or
not.
Many might instinctively reject
such an idea, fearing it would sow division.
In fact, there’s good evidence it
would do the opposite.
In a winter survey, think tank
Cardus partnered with the Angus Reid
Institute to ask Canadians whether
they’d donated to charity, volunteered
their time, or helped a stranger in the
last few months. We also asked
whether they read (or otherwise
engaged with) a sacred text. For most,
that would mean the Christian Bible,
but it also includes the Jewish Torah,
Muslim Qur’an, and other books.
The numbers were revealing.
Of Canadians who had read, heard,
or otherwise engaged with a sacred
text in the last 12 months, almost seven
in 10 had donated to a charity recently,
48 per cent had volunteered, and 65 per
cent had helped a stranger in need.
Jews, Muslims, and Evangelical
Christians stood out particularly on
all three scores. Among Canadians
who hadn’t engaged with a sacred text,
charitable giving went down to 53 per
cent, volunteering fell to 33 per cent,
and helping strangers dropped to 51
per cent.
Far from dividing Canadians, faith
communities help create a generous
culture inspired by what their sacred
texts proclaim about ministering to
the world. A deeply pluralist society
makes room for those communities, as
well as those of no faith, to live out
their beliefs fully and publicly.
This is precisely where Canada has
an opportunity to shine as a diverse
society, though it will take some work.
Most of us seem to have bought into
the myth that faith is solely a private
matter. So, 52 per cent of Canadians
say they don’t want sacred texts to play
any role in helping define our laws or
how we live. And 65 per cent say
teachers should not expose students to
the Bible in standard school curriculum,
while 79 per cent say the same
about the Qur’an or other sacred texts.
But faith that isn’t lived – and isn’t
lived publicly – isn’t faith at all. All sectors
of society, including schools,
governments, and media, need to
remain open to public expressions of
faith that are part of our common life.
Turn to Navigating, Pg 7
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