What do Canadians think of carbon taxes? We know what the federal government thinks: Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is a huge fan, as he has been a vocal proponent of his government’s imposition of a minimum price of $65 per tonne of carbon, which has raised the price at the pump by 14 cents per litre in much of the country.
The escalating carbon tax, which will eventually reach $170 per tonne, combined with the new clean fuel regulations, which the PBO estimates will cost households between $384 and $1,157 a year by 2030, will raise gas prices even further.
As for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, she is carbon-tax-positive, as well. While in Prince Edward Island in July, she was asked about the impact higher fuel prices will have on residents and gave this tone-deaf answer: “I am right now an MP for downtown Toronto, and a fact that still shocks my dad is that I don’t actually own a car.… I’m like 300 metres from the nearest subway; I walk, I take the subway.”
While she apparently forgot that she has access to a ministerial car and chauffeur, she did concede that, “I understand that there are communities in P.E.I. and across Atlantic Canada where you need to drive.”