No sign of federal carbon price exception for NWT
Premier remains hopeful that plan will not
have 'very large, detrimental effect' on NWT
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, May 22, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Premier Bob McLeod continues to hope the territory will get some kind of special consideration when the federal government imposes a national price on carbon emissions next year.
Premier Bob McLeod says the GNWT has yet to decide if it will bring in its own price on carbon or default to the federal program.- |
McLeod has repeatedly said the federal government has assured him there would be recognition for unique circumstances in the North, which still heavily depends on fossil fuel for power generation and truck transportation for its economy.
"I'm still optimistic that we can work it out so that it doesn't have a very large, detrimental effect on the Northwest Territories without also meeting the objectives of greenhouse gas reductions," McLeod said in an interview May 19.
He spoke the day after the federal government unveiled more details of its plan to put a price on emissions contributing to climate change.
The Liberal plan would be similar to Alberta's and charge a levy on fuel and create an emissions credit trading system for large industrial polluters.
Last year the federal government announced it would impose a price on carbon starting in 2018 of $10 per tonne for provinces and territories that don't have their own carbon tax or cap and trade system already in place. The price would rise $10 per tonne to $50 by 2022.
The details were outlined in a technical paper released May 18 online. Canadians have been asked to provide feedback on the paper until June 30.
The paper doesn't outline any kind of special consideration for the three territories.
The plan could affect everything from diesel used to fuel power stations in communities around the territory to the gasoline drivers pump into their cars and trucks.
The territory has carried out a preliminary analysis of how a price on carbon could impact prices. He said drivers could pay four to five cents more per litre of gasoline.
He said one thing the territory is confident about is that it won't be subject to double billing, referring to a situation where diesel bought for a power station is taxed and then consumers are taxed again.
The premier said the GNWT has yet to decide if it will bring in its own price on carbon or default to the federal program.
McLeod said decisions about how to use the revenue generated from a price on carbon still need to be made.
Craig Scott, executive director of Ecology North in Yellowknife, said a carbon price is an effective market-based option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Scott said since the territory is one of the most impacted by climate change - something the premier often points out in speeches - it has an obligation to be a leader on the national stage.
"We should be leaders in the fight to reduce climate change," Scott said May 19.
According to figures in an Environment and Natural Resources report, the territory generated 1,456 kilotonne equivalents of CO2 in 2013. One kilotonne equals 1,000 tonnes. That's 0.2 per cent of the national emissions that year.
