Removal of consumer carbon tax not expected to reduce grocery bills

Sylvain Charlebois, food distribution and policy professor at Dalhousie University, said on Monday that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s planned removal of the consumer carbon tax will do little for household food costs.

Hours after being sworn in as prime minister last week, Carney signed an order ending the levy on April 1 — the same date where it was to increase by another $15 to $95 per ton of greenhouse gas emissions.

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“The consumer carbon tax is gone, but that doesn’t mean that the carbon tax is gone,”  Charlebois said.

“I think the most problematic aspect of the carbon tax is how it’s impacting our food supply chains and competitiveness from farm gate to store — and that has not been eliminated at all. In fact, it could actually impact our nation’s food security and our competitiveness.”

He said that the move from Carney felt “very intentional.”

“I think the move was very political and, frankly, quite superficial. It doesn’t really accomplish much other than perhaps saving a few cents at the pump. It doesn’t really address the most important issue, which is how our economy is now lagging,” said Charlebois.

He said that it will likely be hard for consumers to notice any changes on their grocery bills.

“It’s impossible to correlate the carbon tax with retail prices. Why? Because there are so many factors impacting retail food prices.”

“I don’t think the government actually did all its due diligence way back in 2018 when it implemented the carbon tax — there was no analysis done in terms of how this would impact food security in Canada.

“Looking at what other countries are doing or not doing, it’s important to keep in mind that pollution doesn’t recognize any borders. And so if we’re at it alone, it’s very dangerous for our food sector and moving forward, it could actually make our agri-food sector weaker over time,” said Charlebois.

Removing the carbon tax is expected to reduce the cost of a litre of gasoline by 17.6 cents and reduce the cost of a cubic metre of natural gas by a little more than 15 cents.

Consumers will still get the next Canada Carbon Rebate, scheduled for April 15.

— with files from CJME News

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