YT Has Concerns with Federal Carbon Tax

Monday, 2 October 2017 10:03

Environment Minister Frost wrote to her federal counterpart outlining her concerns

The Yukon has been in discussions with Ottawa about the implementation of a federal carbon tax in 2018, for quite some time now, it appears the Yukon has several concerns following the release of the Technical Paper on the Federal Carbon Pricing Backstop. Access to Information documents reveal that the departments of Environment and Finance prepared a response to the backstop technical paper. However, the entire report has been redacted.

Luckily Environment Minister Pauline Frost wrote to her federal counterpart in late June outlining her concerns. Frosts letter states “The Yukon Government expects that the results of the study [Canada/Yukon study on the implications of carbon pricing in the Yukon] will be considered before the final carbon pricing too is developed and implemented in Yukon.”

Frost’s letter outlines nine problem areas from returning carbon pricing revenues to specific emissions related items. “The technical paper commits the Government of Canada to engaging with the provinces and territories to explore how aviation fuel will be addressed by carbon pricing regimes in Canada. However, it appears that the paper suggests that a carbon levy would be applied to aviation fuel in backstop jurisdictions like Yukon before consultation is completed. Aviation fuel should not be included within the scope of carbon pricing in backstop jurisdictions until it can be incorporated into carbon pricing nation-wide.” The thinking here is that the Yukon does not want to put the aviation sector at a competitive disadvantage.

Frost is greatly concerned on how the economy will be impacted writing “Yukon therefore expects that carbon pricing will not place Yukon’s economic sectors, including the mining industry, at a competitive disadvantage within Canada or internationally.” Frost wants to receive more information about how output-based standards applicable to Yukon industries would be established. And similar information on what buildings such as municipal, hospitals, universities, schools and others would not see an output-based pricing system apply.

Finally Frost stresses that the Yukon does not want to see a price of carbon applies to biomass. “The combustion of biomass, and in particular the use of fuel wood for home heating, should not be subject to a carbon levy now or in the future.”

(Dan Jones Whitehorse Oct. 2, 2017)