Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre calls Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault an exremist with “fanatical rhetoric” in the House of Commons.
Patrick Meagher
and Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum
OTTAWA — A secret government report has revealed that the federal carbon tax will retard economic growth, be a net loss for Canadian families and that the prime minister lied about it.
The federal carbon tax is inflicting real damage on the Canadian economy, with lost economic growth projected to hit at least $25 billion annually by 2030, according to a secret Environment Canada report reluctantly released by the Trudeau Liberals on June 13.
The analysis projects Canadian economic activity of $2.663 trillion by 2030 if the carbon tax remains in place. That’s $25 billion lower (or almost 1 % less) of what Canada’s gross domestic product would be without a carbon tax, according to the figures. One per cent is a huge number in a national economy that has lately struggled to grow by even one per cent.
The Official Opposition Conservatives have taken a look at the numbers and calculated the negative impact at $30.5 billion, or an average of $1,824 in extra costs per Canadian household. But even with the lower estimate by some analysts, the hit per family would still be over $1,200 per year.
In the House of Commons question period on June 17, Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre zeroed in on the Liberal government’s attempt to hide the negative report on the carbon tax.
“Now that we’ve caught them hiding the true cost of their tax, how can we believe anything else they say about any other tax hike?”
In his reply, Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault, wagged a finger at Poilievre and said: “Right now Eastern Canada is seeing its second heat wave before the summer has even started. People are being evacuated in Northwest Territories. What’s the Conservative response? Let the planet burn.”
Poilievre: “The fanatical rhetoric of that extremist minister won’t change anything. The reality is that nor will his carbon tax change the weather. His carbon tax is not going to eliminate a single forest fire, a single drought, a single heat wave. All it will do is turn up the heat on Canadian taxpayers.”
Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation director Franco Terrazzano agreed. “Once again, we see the government’s own data showing what hard working Canadians already know: the carbon tax costs Canada big time. The carbon tax makes the necessities of life more expensive and it will cost our economy billions of dollars.”
The existence of the report came to light when the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), Yves Giroux, testified that the government showed him the data but wouldn’t allow him to speak publicly. Giroux accused the government of hiding the information, prompting the Poilievre Conservatives to spend days pushing for its release. The governing Liberals finally relented on the verge of a vote that the Liberals were sure to lose in the House of Commons.
However, not all of the report had been released by June 18 and the Conservatives began calling for the rest of it.
Ontario’s grain and oilseeds sector alone will be saddled with $2.7 billion in carbon taxes on crop-drying by 2030, according to the Grain Farmers of Ontario. The Poilievre Conservatives promise to axe the tax if elected when Canadians head to the polls no later than the fall of 2025.
