Canadian Legislative Updates
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
In 2015, the federal Liberals ran and won on – among other things – the implementation of a national carbon tax to combat greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The federal government remains committed to keeping the tax on track for its implementation next year, and this will have implications on fleet fuel costs.
The tax was first presented as a collaboration with the provinces, with the feds committing to returning all the money raised from the tax to provincial governments where the revenue was to be collected. This was a feature aimed at avoiding a repeat of the National Energy Program of the 1970s, a policy largely blamed for drawing funds from Western Canada and sending them east.
Since 2015, Liberals have lost power in Ontario and are facing difficult times in Quebec with an election coming in months. The New Democratic Party administration in Alberta is under severe strain.
Nonetheless, the federal carbon tax still looks highly likely to be implemented as scheduled beginning in 2019 with an initial price of $10 per ton. The feds insist that uncooperative provinces would see the federal tax implemented in its jurisdiction and the revenue would be given directly back to residents, not their governments. The federal government is within its jurisdiction to proceed in such a manner.
