Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax continues to accrue massive costs for the Canadian economy.
The carbon tax will cost the Canadian economy $11.9 billion in 2024, costing each Canadian an average of $295 in lost GDP, rising to $30 billion by 2030, or $678 per person, according to calculations by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“The economic cost is the difference between what the GDP would be without the carbon tax minus the projected GDP with the carbon tax,” said Gage Haubrich, the CTF’s Prairie director.
The calculations come just weeks after the Liberals released carbon tax data they had previously kept secret, just moments before a motion compelling them to do so was to be debated in the House of Commons.
The complexity of the data led to various interpretations, which is why it took the CTF weeks to calculate. The Conservatives had previously issued a release claiming the tax would cost Canadians $30.5 billion by 2030, or $1,824 per person.
The Conservatives claimed that Trudeau had been hiding these figures for years, only deciding to release it once Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux testified that the Liberals had him under a gag order.
“Once again, we see the government’s own data showing what hard-working Canadians already know: the carbon tax costs Canada big time,” the CTF’s Federal Director Franco Terrazzano told True North.
While the CTF calculated the total cost to Canadians, they also provided a provincial breakdown. Ontario would pay the most in 2024, losing $4.1 billion in GDP, or $258 per person.
Saskatchewan had the highest per-person cost of any province, costing $390 per person in lost GDP, totalling $476 million.
The Liberals have long claimed that eight out of ten people get more back in carbon rebates than they pay in carbon tax.
“The problem there was, of course, the PBO did his homework, and they had a secondary calculation which talked about the economic impact of the Trudeau government’s carbon tax,” said the CTF’s Alberta Director Kris Sims on the Andrew Lawton Show. “So that means, of course, how much the farmer is paying to grow the food with the carbon tax, how much the trucker is paying to fill up the big rig to bring you the food, how much you pay for home heating, you get the idea.”
Canadians in every province, including Nunavut and Yukon, are paying the price. However, the Northwest Territories actually has a positive economic cost, gaining $15 million thanks to the carbon tax and its rebates in 2024, equating to gaining $324 in GDP per person.
Terrazzano said he had no explanation for why residents would gain more money than they’d lose, as the territory’s government had not clarified its data.
He added that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is currently working on calculating the cumulative economic costs for Canadians by 2030. The $30 billion it will cost Canadians by 2030 is for that year alone.
The Conservative party called for the resignation of Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault after the data was released.
“Steven Guilbeault lied to Canadians. He must resign, and if he won’t, then Justin Trudeau must fire him and start telling Canadians the truth,” reads the party’s release.
“Canadians are sick and tired of the government making our lives more expensive and hurting our economy. The carbon tax needs to go,” said Terrazzano.