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Manitoba carbon tax scheme abandoned

Plan needed without extra cost for north: MLA
carbon

Manitoba’s plans for a provincial carbon tax have been scrapped.

Premier Brian Pallister began the fall legislative session in Winnipeg with a major announcement on Oct. 3, stating the province would break from federal direction and abandon a carbon tax.

Instead, Pallister advocated for continuing a provincial green plan without a carbon tax.

In the province’s Climate and Green Plan announced last November, Pallister’s government proposed a flat carbon price of $25 per tonne of carbon released, in direct contradiction to federal guidelines which require a price of $10 per tonne in 2018 and an increase to $50 per tonne by 2022.

Some exemptions to the pricing were announced for companies and industries already exempt from provincial fuel taxes, including agriculture, commercial fishing, forestry and mining.

When the 2018-19 provincial budget was announced in March, it included a scheduled tax on fuels like gasoline, diesel, natural gas and propane. The tax would increase gas prices by 5.32 cents per litre and diesel by 6.71 cents a litre, while natural gas would increase by 4.74 cents per cubic metre. An extra charge of 3.87 cents per litre would be added for propane.

The tax was expected to raise more than $140 million for the province.

When it was first announced, the idea of extra cost for vital fuel was not popular in northern Manitoba, where additional costs in wholesale fuel purchasing and fuel transport could multiply costs for consumers using fuel for transport, heat or to power generators.

“There’s a lot of people who can’t afford to pay any more on anything. If you invest in the housing options and help people transition to a different style of economy, away from using fuels like diesel like they use in Tadoule Lake to power their communities, and invest in solar, wind or things of that nature, then you’ve actually worked toward reducing the carbon footprint. What Pallister and company had proposed simply wasn’t going to do that,” said Tom Lindsey, Flin Flon MLA.

When asked about the now-abandoned previous plan, Lindsey said it had two drawbacks. Not only did the plan not do enough to slash environmental harm, but it would have a large economic impact on northerners.

“What Pallister was proposing was wrong because it wasn’t a carbon tax or a carbon price. It was a gas tax, really. It was going to affect people in the north, just because we have to drive to get from A to B. It wasn’t going to do anything to reduce emissions, because it exempted all the big polluters. What he had envisioned was merely just a tax grab.”

Pallister’s decision has received praise and scorn alike. Rob Altemeyer, Manitoba NDP environment critic, said in legislature that the move was “incredibly irresponsible” and “anti-science”, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also condemned the decision. Opposition leader Wab Kinew told reporters the move showed the provincial government had no plans to combat climate change.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe both applauded the move. Pallister has now joined Ford and Moe as the only sitting premiers to openly reject carbon pricing.

Lindsey said the rejection of a carbon tax could open the door to a new plan that would address environmental concerns with minimal negative impact on the north.

“Certainly, there could be an opportunity. I don’t see that happening with this government. So far, the only thing they’ve ever talked about for the north is tourism. Some tourism isn’t going to reduce our carbon footprint, and it’s not going to create enough employment opportunities and growth for anybody in the north,” he said.

“I don’t see this government as having an eye on doing anything to help the north, whether it’s resource extraction or First Nations communities or anything of that nature. A little bit of tourism is not going be the answer. It could be part of the answer, but not all.”

Lindsey thinks that it is possible to have a plan that aids the environment without sacrificing northern industry.

“I believe that we need to do things to make sure the carbon footprint is coming down, we need to make sure there is investment in the north because, even in the process of reducing carbon, you need minerals. Mining is still going to be important.”

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