Federal Carbon Tax Coming To Nova Scotia Next Summer
OTTAWA – The federal government will extend its carbon tax on consumer fuels to Nova Scotia starting next summer.
Steven Guilbeault, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said at a November 22 news conference the government made the decision after Nova Scotia failed to create its own plan.
The federal tax on consumer fuels like home heating oil and gasoline will begin on July 1, 2023. It will raise the price of those fuels in Nova Scotia, however, Guilbeault said the government will offset those price hikes with rebate checks that will arrive before the new tax kicks in.
According to the federal government, all the money collected through the carbon tax will go directly back to families and industries paying increased costs. Guilbeault claimed eight out of 10 families will get back more money than they spend on the new tax.
“We want to make pollution more expensive, but we don’t want to do that on the backs of Canadian families,” Guilbeault said.
Provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario have been working under the federal government’s carbon tax since 2019. Other provinces came up with their own plans that met federal requirements and were allowed to use those instead. Along with Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador didn’t, so will be put under the federal carbon tax next summer.
Nova Scotia had been able to avoid the federal tax by implementing its own cap-and-trade program on big polluters. The plan was created by the previous Liberal government but didn’t meet all the federal requirements.
Premier Tim Houston has been a vocal critic of the federal government’s plan and has tried to get Nova Scotia out of it.
In August, his government submitted its own plan that Houston claimed reduced emissions without any tax on carbon.
“We’ve put forward a better plan. It is more effective; it is more efficient, and it is more affordable for Nova Scotians. All three of those points are equally important,” Houston said at the time.
The feds rejected that plan. Since the province didn’t present a new plan that met the federal guidelines the federal government imposed its own plan.
At the Tuesday news conference, Guilbeault said Nova Scotia’s plan would have meant reduced targets without placing a consumer price on pollution
“We fought all the way to the Supreme Court to make sure that pollution wouldn’t be free anymore in Canada,” he said. “The fact that Nova Scotia had a plan is a good thing. But it’s simply not true that their plan was better without [carbon] pricing,” he said.
Guilbeault accused Houston of being deliberately obstinate about the federal carbon tax to stoke division and create “drama.”
“I must confess that I’m extremely disappointed,” he said.
Guilbeault said the federal government was able to reach agreements with other provinces (including ones where he said he’s “not popular”) without all the “theatre and drama.”
He said it was “unconscionable” that Houston would take the position he did in the wake of the destruction caused by the storm Fiona, which was almost certainly fueled by climate change.
In a November 21 letter to the federal government, Houston expressed his “profound disappointment” in the federal government’s decision to impose its carbon tax in Nova Scotia “at a time when fuel and heating costs are at an all-time high and many Nova Scotians are struggling.”
“Let me be clear – Nova Scotia supports action on climate change but doesn’t support a carbon tax of any amount on home heating oil at this time. It’s incomprehensible to me that the federal government doesn’t agree.
“A new fuel tax when there are record highs at the pumps also makes no sense. We have been told this is intended to change behaviour, but even with today’s prices, we aren’t seeing any significant change,” Houston wrote.
“Fuel rebates are welcome, but they won’t ease the pressure Nova Scotians are feeling now at the pump,” he continued.
On Tuesday, Guilbeault reiterated that the federal plan would end up putting more money in eight out of ten families’ pockets and that rebates would arrive before the new tax kicks in.
Trevor Nichols is Huddle’s editor, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].
With files from Steve MacArthur.