Provincial parties in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario have outlined comprehensive platforms addressing Canada’s low-carbon future. Key areas of agreement and debate include their positions on the carbon tax, an oil and gas emissions cap, and the role of technology and innovation.
British Columbia introduced its own provincial carbon tax in 2008 under the BC Liberal Party (now BC United). The current BC carbon tax matches the requirements of the federal tax at $80 per tonne, as required by the government’s backstop policy.
🔗 Read More: https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-carbon-tax-drama/
Prior to the 2024 BC Provincial election, the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) have supported the carbon tax. During their campaign for the 2024 provincial election, they have opened up the possibility of removing the tax if permitted by the federal government. Following his election victory, Premier David Eby has reiterated his promise to eliminate the consumer carbon tax, contingent on the federal government removing their mandated backstop (From Global News articlehttps://globalnews.ca/news/10836373/premier-david-eby-speaks-1st-time-majority-government/).
The Conservative Party of BC has supported repealing the carbon tax. They have claimed that the carbon tax is a “job-killing policy” (https://www.conservativebc.ca/john_rustad_exposes_eby_s_carbon_tax_lie_swapping).
The BC Green Party supports the continued increase in the carbon tax of $15 per tonne. They propose using funds from the tax towards providing support for local climate initiatives. Their policy platform also endorses the elimination of loopholes used by large companies.
🔗Read More: https://bcgreens2024.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BCGreens-Platform-2024.pdf
The United Conservative Party (UCP) has taken a policy stance in favor of carbon emissions. They identify carbon dioxide is a key element of Alberta’s economic well-being, and have taken efforts to introduce policies that would reject net-zero carbon targets (Cited in the CBC article, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/abandoning-net-zero-emissions-targets-among-policy-proposals-at-ucp-agm-1.7357320).
The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP) has been critical of the federal carbon tax and how it unjustly favors certain provinces more than others. The party was in opposition of the federal government’s decision to reverse carbon pricing on home heating oil, which would benefit eastern Canadian provinces (In Calgary Herald, https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/alberta-ucp-ndp-oppose-federal-carbon-tax-reversal-heating-oil).
In Ontario, the provincial government must follow the federal government’s carbon tax backstop since they opted out of the cap-and-trade system under the Ford government beginning in 2018 (Cited in the CBC article, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-officially-ends-cap-and-trade-1.4885872).
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (Ontario PC Party) has opposed federal carbon pricing set out by the federal government. The party has been critical of the Ontario Liberal Party’s Bonnie Crombie, who they argue has been a long time supporter of the carbon tax. The party supports the concept of running a provincial referendum prior to the implementation of any provincial carbon tax. (In CBC article, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/liberals-crombie-carbon-tax-1.7147189)
The Ontario Liberal Party announced that if they are elected to power, they would not implement their own provincial carbon tax. They support the continued efforts in imposing financial costs to large polluters, but will not consider any carbon tax that would impact consumers (In CBC article, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/liberals-crombie-carbon-tax-1.7147189). In the party’s 2022 platform under Steven Del Duca, the OLP intended to cut carbon and methane emissions to half of their 2005 levels by 2030. This was also paired with a pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The party promised to implement a carbon offset program to help industries gradually cutdown on their emissions to reach the 2030 goals.