Prime Minister Justin Trudeau implied that in the long-term Canadians should prioritize fighting climate change over feeding their families and paying for rent.
The comments were made ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during a discussion with Michael Sheldrick, co-founder of Global Citizen.
“It’s really easy when you’re in a short-term survive; I’ve got to be able to pay the rent this month, I’ve got to be able to buy groceries for my kids, to say okay: let’s put climate change as a slightly lower priority. And that’s something that’s instinctive,” said Trudeau.
“When the storm comes, you want to hunker down and just sort of huddle up and wait for it to blow over. We can’t do that around climate change.”
Trudeau added that affordability, contrasted with the moral responsibility to protect the planet, has been amplified by propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation, which he said has scared people into prioritizing their household budget and bottom line over the environment.
He added that it’s important in democracies for citizens to want to fight deforestation in Indonesia and floods and famine in sub-Saharan Africa or Asia. Trudeau suggested that Canadians should accept paying more tax dollars and diverting funds towards foreign aid because it “creates jobs” and “benefits citizens.”
A previous study highlighted that the average Canadian spent more on taxes last year than they did on shelter, groceries, and clothing combined.
The prime minister said that his government implemented the strongest and broadest prices on pollution in the world to create jobs, growth, and benefit citizens.
“It’s no longer free to pollute in Canada, and we’ve won three elections on it already,” he said.
Trudeau said the carbon tax is the best tool to fight climate change. Despite having one of the most expensive carbon taxes in the world that is only set to increase, Canada fell to 62nd out of 67 countries on the Climate Change Performance Index.
“In 2019, Canada introduced a carbon price system. In 2023, the price per tonne of CO2 was increased to $65, and at $170/tonne by 2030. However, most of the emissions generated by oil and gas producers are exempted, meaning these companies pay a very low average price for their emissions,” reads the CCPI’s report.
The Prime Minister said that his carbon tax helps the middle class.
He, like his Liberal colleagues often do, said that the carbon tax makes eight out of ten people richer.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has continuously disproven this. The PBO showed that the average Canadian pays $400 more on carbon levies than they receive in rebates. Also, he said that “Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change.”
The $400 figure does not include the GST added to the carbon tax, which he estimated will cost taxpayers $400 million this year alone. Trudeau also celebrated the Liberals’ most recent cap on emissions for the oil and gas sector.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called the oil and gas cap “a deranged vendetta” specifically targetting Alberta.
Trudeau said that it’s not the carbon tax that is making the price of gas go up, but “oil and gas companies and geopolitics and the illegal invasion of Ukraine that is driving up gas prices around the world.”
He added that his oil and gas cap and carbon tax will create growth and prosperity in the coming years and is encouraging foreign investment right now.
Various organizations have warned the Liberals that the cap will devastate the Canadian economy, reducing the GDP by trillions, and wiping out hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Additionally, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault recently proposed a new global shipping carbon tax.
Canada has already committed $5 billion to assist developing countries in combating climate change between 2021 and 2026.
Trudeau’s carbon tax has already burdened Canadian households and is projected to cost the economy $30.5 billion annually by 2030, based on government data.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office has opposed the tax “that will make everything more expensive.” The tax would come at a time when 2 million Canadians are using a food bank each month.
“Canadians discovered that Justin Trudeau’s radical Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, wants to create a new global carbon tax on international shipping. This tax money would then be sent abroad to other countries,” reads a statement from the office.
“The carbon tax is nothing more than an expensive scam. It has done nothing to reduce emissions, while dramatically increasing the cost of living on the backs of working Canadians.”