As we continue to discuss the issue of carbon pricing, it’s important to be clear about the facts.
What is Federal Carbon Pricing?
The carbon pricing mechanism that will be introduced in 2018 is a federal tax per tonne on carbon emissions. It will be collected by the federal government. It will be administered by the federal government.
Does Yukon have to implement Carbon Pricing?
In March of 2016, the previous government signed the Vancouver Declaration, which outlined a national carbon pricing system. By doing so, they started the process of a carbon pricing system. Sometime later, the former government began to discuss an exemption from the carbon pricing system. There is no such thing as an exemption to this federal tax. No province or territory was offered an exemption.
How will Carbon Pricing affect Yukoners?
The Yukon Liberal government negotiated with the federal government and secured the option to return the collected dollars back to Yukoners. We got Yukoners the deal they wanted and the deal we promised – a revenue neutral tax collected by the federal government and returned to Yukoners.
How is the government going to return money collected to Yukoners?
We know Yukoners are interested in understanding how this will work. So are we. We do not know yet what this pricing looks like. Ottawa will provide more details as they are determined, and those details are expected in the next few months. Details of the federal carbon pricing mechanism, which have not been released, are critical to know prior to designing a rebate process.
When we have more information, we will engage Yukoners, First Nations, communities and the private sector and work collaboratively to determine how the money collected will be returned.
