The Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna and the Minister of Finance Bill Morneau released draft legislative proposals for public comment relating to the proposed federal carbon pricing system.
The federal government plans to introduce the legislation for the federal carbon pricing system after consultation on the draft legislative proposals. Ottawa is asking for final comments on this proposal by April 9.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance submitted its initial comments on the federal carbon pricing system in 2017 where it expressed concerns the proposed carbon pricing system created growing competitive issues between foreign and domestic carriers by pricing carbon at escalating levels in Canada while the US rate remains at zero.
CTA also stressed introducing a carbon pricing system could create an administratively burdensome system for Canadian carriers tracking compliance, while perhaps not forcing US carriers operating in Canada to comply as well.
“The key questions moving forward will centre around how the carbon compliance system will be administered, what price carbon is set at compared to US markets moving forward and how the federal government and provinces plan to reinvest in green technology for our industry using the carbon fees collected,” said CTA president Stephen Laskowski. “Ottawa has been very open to discussing our concerns related to the implementation of the carbon tax to date. CTA expects this open dialogue to continue.”
CTA will review this draft federal proposal over the next few months and update the industry following its board meeting in March.