OP/ED: From the Hill: The Truth about the Carbon Tax
- Media Manager
- Oct 18, 2023
- 1 min read
The Rossland Telegraph
Published: October 19th, 2023
These are difficult times for a lot of Canadians. At the top of the list is the difficulty many have in finding affordable housing. Groceries continue to rise in price. And rounding out the list is always the price of gasoline.
Over the past three years, gas prices have gone up by about a dollar per litre at the pumps. The cost of producing gasoline has not risen at all, so it’s clear that the oil giants are making a lot of money—and indeed, they’re posting record profits. The five big oil companies in Canada made over $38 billion in profits last year alone.
The federal Conservatives have blamed all our inflationary woes on the federal carbon tax, even though this tax only contributes about 0.15 percent of inflation—15 cents on every $100 grocery bill. And the carbon tax has only risen about 5 cents over the period when gas prices rose by a dollar. What is hurting Canadians most—the carbon tax or corporate greed? Clearly the latter.
There is so much misinformation out there about the carbon tax I feel it’s high time for some facts to clear the air.
An important point to remember in this debate around the federal carbon tax is that it is not in effect in BC at all. In British Columbia, we’ve had a carbon tax since 2008, when it was introduced by the BC Liberals (now BC United) under Gordon Campbell. So calls to eliminate the federal carbon tax would have no effect in BC.
