B.C. to scrap consumer carbon tax if federal government drops legal requirement: Eby

By The Canadian Press on September 12, 2024.

VANCOUVER – British Columbia Premier David Eby says his government will end the provincial carbon tax on consumers and shift the onus to “big polluters” if the federal government removes a legal requirement to keep the tax in place.

Eby says B.C. residents are struggling with affordability, but a re-elected NDP government would make “big polluters” pay a price for carbon to take action on climate change.

He says the federal government’s approach to the carbon tax has “badly damaged” what was a political consensus on the issue in the province.

Eby says the carbon tax has been “politicized” and his government will scrap its long-standing version if the federal government removes a “legal backstop” requiring the province to keep it.

In 2008, B.C. became the first Canadian jurisdiction to introduce a carbon tax under the previous BC Liberal government.

Eby says the “context and challenges” facing British Columbians has changed amid high interest rates, inflation and affordability issues, and a new approach would ensure “big polluters are paying their fair share.”

B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad says Eby’s “reversal” on the tax is a “desperate attempt to salvage his sinking political ship.”