B.C. faces April 1 deadline to repeal carbon tax — but will the bill pass in time?
Greens and Conservatives raise concerns ahead of Monday’s debate on bill to scrap consumer carbon tax
With less than a day to go before British Columbians are supposed to see a drop in gas prices, the province is under pressure to pass legislation Monday that would eliminate its long-standing consumer carbon tax.
The B.C. government says it intends to fully repeal the provincial consumer-facing carbon tax by April 1 — a move expected to reduce prices at the pump by about 17 cents per litre and save residential natural gas users nearly $30 per month, according to FortisBC.
But first, the repeal needs to be passed in the legislature.
B.C.'s legislature reconvenes Monday, and the province is tabling the legislation to remove the tax that same day.
However, political opposition from both the B.C. Greens and B.C. Conservatives could complicate things.
Premier David Eby, Energy Minister Adrian Dix and Finance Minister Brenda Bailey are scheduled to speak to reporters at noon PT on Monday about the end of the carbon tax.
Greens want a climate plan
B.C. Greens' Rob Botterell, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, says his party is hesitant to support the bill without a replacement climate plan.
"We haven't heard anything about a plan to actually do the climate fight and to replace this measure with a suitably appropriate alternate measure," he said.
The government has said it will shift its focus to targeting large industrial emitters, offering incentives for those that adopt lower-carbon technologies.
British Columbia's budget shows the impending end of the province's consumer carbon tax will leave a roughly $1.5-billion hole in its revenue streams.
Botterell says a tax increase on industries could help offset lost revenue but says there's no clarity from the province.
"We're not hearing the full plan. We all need that to understand how this is going to impact us."
He also raised concerns about the fate of the B.C. climate action tax credit, which provides quarterly rebates to low- and middle-income families to offset the cost of the carbon tax.
According to the province, that program would also end, pending legislative approval.
"There's a lot of people that rely on those rebates. We also need to take care of families who are struggling," Botterell said.
Conservatives oppose industry carbon tax
Meanwhile, the B.C. Conservative Party has taken a different stance.
Party leader John Rustad says he will only support the bill if it repeals the carbon tax for consumers without shifting the burden to industries.
"Industry is in trouble obviously with what's going on south of the border," Rustad told CBC News. "If David [Eby] is just going to pass this tax on the industry and hide it for consumers, no, we won't support it."
University of B.C. political science expert Stewart Prest says the lack of cross-party consensus could create last-minute hurdles in the legislature.
"This legislation is going to have to be a little more substantive than just repealing the consumer carbon tax," Prest said. "If both Conservatives and Greens end up opposing the motion, it gets considerably more messy and unpredictable … and may end up slowing this process down."
Prest added that Rustad's stance might not bode well for his party.
"The majority of British Columbians do accept that climate change is real and does require a real response," he said. "And so, by saying the Conservatives are opposed to the consumer carbon tax and they're opposed to anything that replaces it, they do risk alienating that substantial portion of the population."
The carbon tax, first introduced in 2008 by the B.C. Liberals, was the first of its kind in Canada. While the NDP opposed it at the time, it remained in place after they formed government in 2017.
Premier David Eby has stated that the focus of the repeal is solely on the consumer-facing portion of the tax. A further announcement from the premier on the elimination of the carbon tax is expected Tuesday afternoon.
With files from Katie DeRosa, Yasmine Ghania, and Shaurya Kshatri