By Aaron Wudrick and Franco Terrazzano Canadian Taxpayers Federation Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has chosen to make life more expensive for Canadians by increasing the federal carbon tax by 50 per cent amidst the COVID-19 economic and health crisis. Meanwhile, governments around the world are moving in the opposite direction because hiking taxes during a…
The prime minister, Ontario premier and their advisers realize the lines of communication must stay open for the good of the country
When Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently went to Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, some people assumed the worst would happen. It’s no secret Ford doesn’t care for Trudeau. The former’s disagreement about implementing a national carbon tax has stretched from the political corridors all the way to the Ontario Court of Appeal.…
Work on risk assessment, and policy choices that follow, needs to be examined with a more realistic eye
Now that the federal election is over, the government of Justin Trudeau (perhaps now in closer concert with parties across the aisle) will continue its climate policy program. It’s therefore worth noting the recent tragic death of Harvard economist Martin Weitzman has underscored his work on climate risk assessment, which many climate activists use to…
Over the course of a single year, the carbon tax cost each Albertan $286, couples $388 and couples with two children $508
Utopian legislators in the United States often look with rose-tinted glasses upon the Canadian approach to everything, from higher education and medical care to global warming and international affairs. Since Canadians are the ones who live with such policies, they’re more inclined to recognize their mistakes and reverse the course, as exhibited by Alberta’s carbon…
All four strands of conservatism in Canada – traditionalist, religious, free-market and populist – should logically support a tax
Conservative politicians across Canada have strongly opposed the federal government’s promise to impose a carbon tax since the idea was floated in 2015. It’s easy to see how conservatives would oppose a new tax created by the federal Liberal government. After all, what’s more conservative than opposing a new federal tax? Dig deeper into conservative…
Research shows that only those born 45 years after a carbon tax is implemented will see any benefits that outweigh higher energy prices
I work on environmental and energy economics in both Canada and the United States. I’ve noticed that U.S. debates tend to focus on abstract principles – “capitalism versus socialism,” for example – whereas Canadians tend to put aside ideology and inquire about the empirical details. In this context, and as Canada’s political parties rollout their…
Carbon tax should replace other, less efficient policies with the same objective and be offset by cuts in other taxes
Economists generally agree that imposing a price on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the most efficient way to reduce them while minimizing the drawbacks associated with intervention. The devil, however, is in the details. And when you look at the details, the carbon pricing systems the federal and provincial governments of Canada have put in…
By kicking today's debt down the road, the federal government is passing the burden of repayment to young Canadian families
By Jake Fuss and Milagros Palacios The Fraser Institute Providing tax relief for Canadian families has been a stated priority for the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since it assumed office. However, despite any rhetoric to the contrary, the tax burden for the average Canadian family has increased over the last four years. And…
The change we need in half a generation is before us. Each of us can play our small part to end the cycle
Those of us who signed up for Introductory Psychology 101 as university students were likely exposed to Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s model on the five stages of dying and death. I admit I had to look them up again to write this. But once found, I immediately recalled struggling with their ordered sequence in a lecture…
Roger Pielke Jr. was subjected to a vicious, well-funded smear campaign for raising legitimate concerns
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently said the federal carbon tax, a key pillar in his government’s climate policy, will help protect Canadians from extreme weather. “Extreme weather events are extraordinarily expensive for Canadians, our communities and our economy,” he said, citing the recent tornadoes in Ottawa and wildfires in Western Canada. “That's why we need…
Montreal Economic Institute says policy and layers of taxes are crippling Canada's oil and gas industry
The Montreal Economic Institute, an independent public policy think-tank, says Alberta’s $30 carbon tax is around 50 per cent higher than the rate in place in Quebec, as a result of the latter province’s cap-and-trade system. MEI has just published a research paper, The Cumulative Impact of Harmful Policies – The Case of Oil and…
Liberals “backstop” carbon-tax will lead to $30 a tonne next year for Alberta, 50% higher than the rate currently in place in Quebec
By Jean Michaud and Germain Belzile Montreal Economic Institute New Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has vowed to repeal the provincial carbon levy implemented by the previous NDP government. That tax began in 2017 at $20 a tonne and rose to $30 a tonne before the NDP froze it in protest to delays over the Trans…
The trust gap between industry and government has grown, and they’re butting heads more frequently
Food industries need to be regulated. But the delicate balance between protecting the public and supporting industrial growth may have reached a tipping point in Canada. In the Western world, governments successfully play the anti-business card by implementing regulations so consumers feel someone is looking out for them. But governments are also flirting with populist…
Rather than relying on carbon pricing to make things happen, the government is picking winners and losers
By Elmira Aliakbari and Ashley Stedman The Fraser Institute The federal government announced recently that it will provide up to $12 million in subsidies to Canadian supermarket giant Loblaws Inc. for new energy-efficient refrigerators. Unfortunately, the subsidy proves again that the nation’s climate plan is severely flawed. According to the government’s news release, the subsidy…
Many politicians would rather look to the past than mobilize to fight our greatest challenge
The Alberta provincial election is a case study of the collective Canadian avoidance of climate change. Albertans are told to focus on either cutting various government programs or making deficit expenditures on new social programs, arguing about the pros and cons of taxes (especially carbon taxes), and a generalized hope for a return of high…