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Canada’s carbon price? It’s on thin ice

With multiple elections on the horizon, federal and provincial parties are battling it out over carbon pricing. In our latest newsletter, Narwhals help make sense of the mess
A price on thin ice
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Before we get to everything happening at The Narwhal this week, I wanted to share an incredible update: we asked for 145 readers to sign up as members by the end of this month — and 140 of you stepped up! That means we’re only five members away from reaching our target! I hope you’ll consider becoming a member today so we can keep bringing you dogged environmental reporting you won’t find anywhere else.
 

🤍 Count me in!
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We’ve just gotta ask: what on earth is going on with the carbon “tax” in Canada?

The Liberal government is facing a non-confidence motion vote next week, which Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has largely hinged on its price on carbon for consumers. The federal New Democrats also pulled support for the Liberals’ carbon pricing system, which is meant to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. Then came news of B.C. NDP Premier David Eby saying he’d ditch the province’s consumer carbon tax if federal rules change.

Everything is getting more expensive — so it somewhat makes sense that another perceived tax on consumers is stoking discussion and confusion, whether that’s over how rebates work or why the policy was created in the first place.

It’s all … a bit of a mess. So, I asked three Narwhal reporters — from Ontario, B.C. and the Prairies — to help readers make some sense of how this climate measure became so deeply politicized.
 

Illustration with photos of Jagmeet Singh, David Eby and John Rustad. The background fades from orange to blue.
🔗 What on earth just happened with B.C.’s carbon tax?

In B.C., the carbon tax conversation is happening as the province heads toward an October election. The governing BC NDP, in power since 2017, is struggling to fend off the BC Conservatives, a party that recently rose rapidly out of the political dust and is now neck-and-neck with the NDP in the polls.

B.C. has had a carbon pricing regime for 16 years and has long been pointed to as a world leader on this front, but Conservative Party Leader John Rustad has promised to get rid of it if his party forms government (although he has admitted that as long as the federal regime is still in place, B.C. will be subject to carbon pricing). Last week, NDP Premier David Eby pledged that his government would get rid of the consumer carbon tax, which British Columbians pay on fossil fuels, if the federal regime is removed. Eby’s about-face on the policy, which he was still defending in April, looks like a bid to block the Conservatives from making the carbon tax an election issue. (I’ll break things down during my next CBC Power & Politics appearance on Friday at 3:30 p.m. PT.)

— Shannon Waters, B.C. politics and environment reporter 


Ontario wouldn’t have a “carbon tax” if it weren’t for Doug Ford.

In June 2018, the Progressive Conservative leader’s first move in office was to end the cap-and-trade program, which forced industrial polluters in Ontario, Quebec and California to pay for emissions. Dismantling it created a void of climate policy — one Ottawa filled with a carbon levy. 

Alongside the right-leaning governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Ford government fought and lost at the Supreme Court. But that hasn’t hushed Ford’s opposition, even though his government has quietly implemented its own industrial carbon price. In recent months, Ford has labelled his Liberal opponent, Bonnie Crombie, the “queen of the carbon tax” (even though she’s skirted the policy) and implemented legislation that requires future governments to carry out a referendum on carbon pricing. As Ontario readies for an election, the carbon tax chatter will likely just get louder and more confusing. But I’ll make sense of it all for Narwhal readers.

— Fatima Syed, Ontario reporter


Even though Alberta was the first jurisdiction in North America to introduce a price on carbon, the province and its neighbour Saskatchewan have long been a hotbed of anti-carbon tax sentiment. But the reality is more nuanced — many oil and gas executives here welcome a levy, and politicians tread a fine line between condemnation of a consumer carbon price and relative silence on an industrial charge.

Both provinces, along with Ontario, fought the personal carbon price to the Supreme Court of Canada and lost. Since then, the United Conservative Party in Alberta has been comparatively quiet — but still opposed — after the noisy premiership of Jason Kenney. 

Meanwhile the Saskatchewan Party government has stopped collecting the charge on home heating altogether — in defiance of federal laws. As an election looms in Saskatchewan, even the opposition NDP have made it clear it doesn’t support the federal levy, ensuring choppy waters for a carbon price no matter the outcome.

— Drew Anderson, Prairies reporter


We’ll make sense of this political chatter as and when it unfolds. Until then, check out our wee explainer on the carbon tax — and send us your questions so we can try to answer them in our reporting. 

Take care and stay curious,

Karan Saxena
Audience engagement editor
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A win and some noms


I’m thrilled to share The Narwhal won an innovation award from the Institute for Nonprofit News, a network of more than 450 independent media organizations that includes only a handful of Canadian members! 

Last summer, when news was blocked on Facebook and Instagram, we saw an opportunity to start building more direct relationships with our audience. Those efforts turned out to be pretty successful: thousands of you signed up for our newsletter and hundreds became members of The Narwhal.

The honour from the Nonprofit News Awards recognizes the efforts of co-founder Carol Linnitt, audience engagement editor Karan Saxena and, well, me, our director of audience.

In more good vibes for our B.C. bureau, The Narwhal earned three nominations for the 2024 Webster Awards, which recognize the best journalism in the province. Our Nourish series earned the nod for innovative journalism, while collaborations with IndigiNews and The Globe and Mail were recognized for arts and culture reporting and business reporting, respectively.

Thanks to our readers for making it all possible — this recognition is a testament to the power of thousands of you who support independent journalism in whatever ways you can.

— Arik Ligeti, director of audience

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Narwhals in the wild


With so much innovative, award-winning journalism to their names, it’s no big surprise that Narwhals are in high demand to bring their insight and analysis to television, radio and live events. Here’s where Team Narwhal has recently been spotted in the wild:

  • Are the BC NDP’s proposed changes to the Land Act a “direct assault” on private property rights? Senior editor Michelle Cyca brought facts to the discourse when she chatted about it with Mo Amir on CHEK News’ This is VANCOLOUR. Watch it here
  • Earlier this week, Ontario reporter Fatima Syed moderated a panel at the University of Waterloo on how building trust and community connection is critical in the face of climate change misinformation.
  • Over in Alberta, Prairies reporter Drew Anderson appeared on 630 CHED to discuss his recent reporting on a quiet plan to subsidize natural gas plants to keep them afloat. Listen here.

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This week in The Narwhal

Two bighorn sheep walk through a grassy, treed area.
B.C. fish and wildlife programs are in ‘crisis’
By Ainslie Cruickshank
Disease monitoring for bighorn sheep, bats, among programs affected by government wildlife funding woes.

READ MORE
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Inside the City of Mississauga’s discussion of a factory using a known carcinogen
By Leah Borts-Kuperman
READ MORE
A single oil derrick in a flat, brown landscape with hazy skies.
No cap: a fifth of the methane from this province’s oil and gas escapes into our air
By Carl Meyer
READ MORE
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A tiny, endangered fish lies on the path of Highway 413. Canada has a plan, but no new power to protect it
By Kathryn Peiman
READ MORE
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