OTTAWA — Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says a national price on carbon won’t be imposed on any province for at least another year.
Carbon pricing legislation will be introduced sometime in 2018 and McKenna said Friday that provinces will have until the end of that year to submit their own carbon pricing plans before a national price is imposed on those that don’t meet the federal standard.
“We were very clear last year as part of our climate plan that there needs to be a price on pollution and we need to see it across the country,” McKenna said. “We will be evaluating all of the systems in 2018, so for provinces that have come up with systems we will be having a look at it.”
A year ago, McKenna said provinces would have to impose at least a $10-per-tonne carbon price by 2018, rising to $50 a tonne by 2022. Any province that doesn’t would have a federal price imposed on it.
Ottawa needs to pass legislation to impose the federal carbon tax that will include outlining how it will return the revenues to the provinces where the money was raised.
NDP environment critic Linda Duncan said a carbon price “by 2018” to her meant by January 1, 2018. She was dismayed to learn it will be an entire year later.
Patrick DeRochie, climate and energy program manager at Environmental Defence said this delay, on top of pushing back the start date for new methane regulations and delaying regulations for a clean fuels standard, is concerning.