Albertans who have filed their 2021 tax return should wake up on Friday morning with some extra money in their bank accounts as the federal government makes its first round of payments carbon tax Discount for 2022.
The first payment will cover the first two quarters of the year. Single adults will receive $269.50. If you have a partner, or you are a single parent, the second adult or first child will receive $135, with additional children receiving $67.50 each. A family of four can expect to receive $539.50. Two more quarterly payments will be sent to Alberton in October and January.
The federal government says Albertans will receive more exemptions than they pay in carbon taxes, but the Canadian Taxpayers Association is not convinced.
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“Albertons are going to be the worst in Canada when it comes to carbon tax exemptions,” said Chris Sims, Alberta director of the CTF.
“According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s numbers, when you add up all the costs, including the so-called hidden costs of the carbon tax, you’re still going to pay a lot.”
The PBO report, released in March, found Albertans would get more back in rebates than directly paid in carbon taxes, but not when it took into account that the tax has an impact on employment and investment income.
“That report (CTF) takes a very narrow view of the economy,” argued Michael Bernstein, executive director of Clean Prosperity, a nonpartisan Canadian think-tank that works with governments on environmental policies.
“We know that this century is actually the biggest opportunity for our economy in low-carbon technology — none of these were considered in this study,” Bernstein said.
He pointed to growing investments in electric vehicles, renewable energy, the hydrogen economy and carbon capture and storage technology in Canada.
The federal government argues that pollution pricing is recognized worldwide as the most efficient way to reduce emissions.
“Critics choose to ignore both the stimulus impact on the green economy and the enormous cost of climate change and its severe weather impacts,” Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guillebault said in a statement.
The carbon tax in Canada is currently $50 a tonne, and is set to reach $170 a tonne by 2030. Right now, Canadians pay about 11 cents a liter on gasoline and 13 cents a liter on diesel.
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