Despite lowering the consumer portion of the carbon tax, Liberal Leader Mark Carney has emphasized that the “amount of carbon” in any goods, services or exports will soon be a “determining” factor in whether they have access to the free market.
Carney made these comments during an online discussion last June, hosted by the Century Initiative and The Globe and Mail. The discussion focused on the future of net-zero policies, as some governments have signaled shifting priorities.
During the panel, Carney went on to say that the future of trade in Canada will soon be “crucially” dependent on “the amount of carbon in a good and a service” that is exported.
“It is going to become, in a much more difficult trading environment and that’s what we’re entering and were entering it for decades, the amount of carbon in a good and a service and in an export,” said Carney.
The host of the panel was deputy editor of the Globe and Mail Dennis Choquette.
“We’ve seen lately a lot of backlash to some of the climate policies,” said Choquette.
“The consumer carbon tax in Canada, I think it’s fair to say, is vulnerable. I think this week in New York the governor walked back on a congestion charge quite dramatically. Investors have pulled out $40 billion from ESG funds this year because of concerns about a lack of performance.”
Choquette said that while these were disparate examples, they revealed “a collective aversion to paying for the transition.”
“I’m wondering if you think these setbacks are inevitable and surmountable, or signs of something more deeply flawed in the current approach,” asked Choquette.
Carney said that the $40 billion figure may sound like a “big number” but that it’s “absolutely tiny in the grand scheme of things” regarding the net zero transition.
“The scale of investment in and around this is absolutely enormous,” he said.
Carney said he believes carbon will be the “significant” factor in whether or not you have market access.
“It is going to become a determinative,” said Carney, claiming that Canada can be in “fantastic position” to be delivering low-carbon solutions globally.
“If you don’t recognize that, I’ll just point you to the fact that a few months ago in Dubai, almost half of the oil and gas production by volume signed up to zero methane by 2030,” he said. “That’s where the world is heading.”
Carney recently lowered the consumer portion of the carbon tax to zero. However, his critics have pointed out that Canada’s federal carbon pricing law is still in effect and also the industrial carbon tax remains in effect.
Carney would later acknowledge this during an interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton last month, claiming that any added costs would only be a “marginal amount.”
That response was in direct conflict with previous remarks Carney made during a CTV interview in January that the carbon tax would only impact “big polluters.”
At the time, he denied that costs associated with taxing industries such as the steel industry would “trickle down” to consumers.
When Barton asked Carney if he acknowledged that the producer tax would impact consumers, he admitted that the producer carbon tax was already affecting consumers.
“Just to be clear, the consumer is already paying more,” he said. “These are marginal amounts.”