Guilbeault defends emissions cap as attacks mount

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OTTAWA — Federal Atmosphere Minister Steven Guilbeault mentioned Wednesday that the looming menace of a 25-per-cent tariff on all Canadian exports to america gained’t dissuade him from pursuing an formidable local weather motion plan, anchored by the federal carbon tax.

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“In fact, we’re going to proceed with the carbon tax as a result of it creates jobs,” Guilbeault advised a Home of Commons committee learning Canada’s emissions insurance policies. “It helps us to advertise funding and cut back GHG (greenhouse fuel) emissions.”

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The Liberal authorities ratcheted up the carbon levy from $65 to $80 a tonne in April, ignoring widespread requires a pause within the scheduled improve. The worth will rise by a further $15 per yr till it hits $170 a tonne in 2030.

Guilbeault mentioned on Wednesday that no plans had been made about worth will increase after 2030.

The atmosphere minister additionally defended his ministry’s controversial draft rules for a cap on oil and fuel emissions, unveiled earlier this month.

“Measures just like the proposed air pollution cap are essential in addressing emissions from Canada’s highest polluting sectors,” Guilbeault mentioned in a brief opening assertion.

The cap has been extensively panned by power trade teams, with one current research discovering it will cut back oil manufacturing by 626,000 barrels per day by 2030. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith mentioned on Tuesday that she’ll use the province’s sovereignty act to defend its oil and fuel amenities from the cap.

Guilbeault’s feedback come two days after president-elect Donald Trump’s bombshell announcement that he’ll slap a 25-per-cent-tariff on both Canada and Mexico as a primary order of enterprise when he takes workplace in January.

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The remarks additionally come at a time when a number of influential figures are calling for Canada to undertake extra pragmatic power insurance policies in anticipation of the second Trump presidency, together with a few of Guilbeault’s fellow Liberals.

“It’s time to cease dithering round with home coverage that kills our largest GDP mills and job creators, just like the emissions cap, and transfer with alacrity to help our most efficient industries,” mentioned Lisa Baiton, president and CEO of the Canadian Affiliation of Petroleum Producers on Tuesday in response to Trump’s announcement.

Hours earlier than Guilbeault’s feedback, Liberal financial advisor Mark Carney mentioned that Canada must be extra aggressive in utilizing power as a supply of leverage in commerce negotiations with the U.S.

“We must be a vital buying and selling companion of theirs,” Carney mentioned at an Ottawa occasion hosted by the Cardus Institute. “We’d like them to wish to commerce with us.”

“And that’s power,” Carney continued, pointing to Canada’s strongest bargaining chip versus the U.S.

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Former Liberal finance minister Invoice Morneau expressed related sentiments in a tv interview earlier this month, discussing the smaller, 10-per-cent tariff that Trump had initially promised throughout his presidential marketing campaign.

“We’re going to wish to consider whether or not we deal with power safety in a method that makes up clearly an necessary a part of the U.S. sector that method,” mentioned Morneau in response to Trump’s election.

“And which means, now we have to ask ourselves, is it actually the fitting time for caps on emissions?”

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