P.E.I. still considering carbon tax, premier says

P.E.I. is not going to be rushed into deciding how it will reduce carbon emissions, Premier Wade MacLauchlan said Tuesday, responding to federal demands that the provinces come up with concrete plans to reduce carbon pollution by the end of 2017.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told provincial environment ministers they can craft a cap-and-trade system or put a direct price on carbon pollution, starting at a minimum of $10 a tonne in 2018, rising by $10 each year to $50 a tonne by 2022.

"We've been given this choice barely 24 hours ago," MacLauchlan told CBC News, adding government wants "to be sure we think out the various scenarios."

A cap-and-trade system would apply to large polluters, like manufacturers — a small sector on P.E.I., where most emissions are from transportation, home heating and farming.

'Later this fall'

The government will wait to decide on carbon emission reduction, MacLauchlan said, until after the release of its new energy strategy and climate change mitigation plan later this fall, MacLauchlan said.

"When that energy strategy comes out, there will be a much more advanced context in which to look at this and related measures," he said.

Whatever option P.E.I. chooses, MacLauchlan promised government will provide supports to lower-income Islanders.

"We're a small player in the global context of climate change," MacLauchlan noted, adding he'd like to see "a mix of actions that we hope will ensure that Prince Edward Islanders do well in what is obviously going to be a green economy."

'Tax grab'

Adopting a carbon tax without a clear plan on how to improve our environment would be "just another tax grab on Islanders," said Opposition Leader Jamie Fox.

Environment critic Brad Trivers said MacLauchlan's "non-statement of platitudes" was disappointing.

"Either the government does not have a plan for a carbon tax, or they are keeping it secret," Trivers told CBC News, suggesting the government may be delaying perceived bad news of a carbon tax until after the Summerside-Wilmot byelection Oct. 17.

'Sensitive to concerns'

Environment experts have suggested a carbon tax would be good for P.E.I.

British Columbia has had a carbon tax for years which that province has declared a glowing success.

B.C.'s tax is revenue-neutral, which means all the money it raises is used to lower corporate and personal income taxes and rebates.

MacLauchlan would not commit to making any tax on P.E.I. revenue-neutral, adding he is "totally sensitive to concerns" about it.

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