Despite British Columbia being the first North American jurisdiction to adopt a carbon tax in 2008, B.C. NDP Premier David Eby revealed in a surprise announcement on Thursday that he would be open to abandoning the levy altogether.
The announcement was a complete reversal of what the Premier was saying just a year ago when he pledged at the 2023 BC NDP convention that he would uphold the carbon tax as counterparts in other provinces were abandoning it in droves.
“Let me be clear: we will not back down. God forbid, if the rest of the country abandons the fight against climate, B.C. will stand strong,” Eby said.
Eby did stop short of abandoning the carbon tax completely, passing on the buck to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by saying that he would only end the tax if the federal Liberals removed the legal backstop requiring provinces to maintain a carbon levy.
The federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act first came into effect on Jun. 21, 2018, nearly ten years after B.C. introduced its own carbon pricing scheme. Since B.C. already had a carbon tax in place at the time, it was not required to adopt the federal model.
The premier elaborated on his change in stance on the radio.
He said that despite being a province in favour of the carbon tax historically, since the Liberals have gotten involved with exemptions on home heating fuel for Atlantic Canada, the issue has become “intensely politicized.”
Eby added that he’s spoken to trades workers who want to support the NDP but can’t justify doing so when the party supports the carbon tax exacerbating the cost of living crisis.
“To be blunt, the carbon tax was just driving them away,” said Eby.
The B.C. government is expected to collect $2.6 billion in revenue from the carbon tax this fiscal year. According to the Vancouver Sun, about $1 billion would be returned to residents through the climate tax action credit.
With the province’s election coming up in just over a month, some have accused the premier of trying to secure as many votes as he can.
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who Eby will be facing in the upcoming election, warned that Eby is only changing his stance in light of growing opposition but that he’s only pretending.
“David Eby has lied to British Columbians before, and he’ll do it again. He’s flip-flopped on this because he’s losing ground, and if re-elected, he’ll waste no time reversing his position on this tax,” said Rustad. “British Columbians deserve real leadership, not a premier who changes his stance whenever it suits his political needs.”
When Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre sent Eby a letter asking for his assistance in halting the federal carbon tax increase, Eby dismissed it as a “baloney factory” campaign tactic.
Poilievre didn’t forget how Eby labelled him six months ago.
“Who is full of baloney now?” asked Poilievre in a post on X
Seven out of ten provincial premiers and approximately 70% of Canadians called for carbon tax relief before the most recent increase. Eby was not among them.
According to calculations from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the carbon tax will cost the Canadian economy $11.9 billion in 2024, an average of $295 in lost GDP per person. By 2030, this cost will rise to $30 billion, or $678 lost in GDP per Canadian.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation have called on Eby to scrap the tax immediately.
The federation said the average family will pay an additional $330 in carbon tax on natural gas this winter.
“The carbon tax is a tax on everything that arrives in a truck so it makes virtually everything in the grocery store more expensive,” said Carson Binda, British Columbia Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “British Columbians want to see the carbon tax gone today, and we can’t afford to wait for a change in the federal government.”
Despite the carbon tax already being raised on Apr.1, 73% of British Columbians opposed the increase, according to a Leger poll from Mar. 26.
“British Columbians want Eby to scrap the carbon tax now,” said Binda. “Heating your home or driving to your doctor’s office or the grocery store isn’t a luxury that should be punished with a tax.”
While Eby was among the last premier supporting the carbon tax, even NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced that his party may be devising a climate plan that could scrap the carbon tax altogether.