B.C. scraps carbon tax, fulfilling Eby’s election promise

British Columbia’s NDP government moved on Monday to eliminate the provincial carbon tax, matching the federal government’s move to lift the national levy and delivering on an off-the-cuff election promise made last fall by Premier David Eby.

The provincial government introduced the Carbon Tax Amendment Act on Monday morning, with the intent of pushing it through the legislature in a single day. The measure is meant to reduce fuel taxes by 17 cents per litre starting April 1, although Mr. Eby conceded there is no guarantee that consumers will see prices at the pumps decline in step with government tax policy.

“Like many British Columbians, I’ve been watching the price of gas go up in the 10 days since we made this announcement,” Mr. Eby told a news conference. He urged gas suppliers to pass along the savings, but said the government does not regulate gas prices. “British Columbians need to see that tax reduction show up at the pump when they fill up. Now is not a time to be playing games with essentials for British Columbians,” he said.

The measure will create a $2-billion revenue hole in the provincial budget that was introduced in March. The province says it will cancel the climate action tax credit as a first step to reduce the impact on its finances. The tax credit benefited low-income households by as much as $1,000 annually for a family of four.

The measure strains the governing NDP’s relations with the BC Greens, who are in a formal partnership with the NDP to uphold the government’s narrow majority. Green MLA Rob Botterell told the legislature that the government is abandoning the fight against climate change – and abandoning low-income families who will pay more under the new tax regime. “This bill is bad for the planet, it’s bad for families.”

Mr. Eby was the last premier in the country to continue to defend carbon pricing. He made the abrupt policy reversal just one week before last fall’s provincial election, as he sought to deflate support for the rival BC Conservative Party, which was campaigning against the levy. Mr. Eby made his unscheduled policy flip-flop during a news conference on daycare initiatives.

He said at that time that if re-elected, his government would scrap the levy – if Ottawa first removed the federal requirement for carbon pricing. On March 14, before calling the federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the end of Canada’s federal consumer carbon price, effective April 1. The B.C. Legislature was on a break at that time, and did not reconvene until Monday.

The Premier said the carbon levy served B.C. well, helping to reduce carbon emissions. “I thought it was a good policy. I fought for the policy,” he noted.

Last September, Mr. Eby blamed the federal Liberals for undermining support for carbon pricing by raising rates at a time when Canadians were struggling with the cost of living. On Monday, he blamed U.S. President Donald Trump, saying British Columbians urgently need tax relief as they brace for the impact of U.S. tariffs that threaten jobs and the cost of living.

He then pointed to a third reason for his policy reversal: “Without a doubt, the policy became absolutely toxic with British Columbians and with Canadians due to a dedicated and concerted campaign by the Conservative Party at the provincial level and at the federal level,” he told reporters. “British Columbians do not support it. They don’t want it. They don’t want to see it, and we’re removing it.”

The B.C. carbon tax came into force almost 18 years ago, establishing British Columbia as a global leader in the fight against climate change. Across the country, politicians had been reluctant to impose a price on pollution for fear of being punished at the ballot box. B.C. Liberal premier Gordon Campbell broke the taboo against carbon pricing in Canada, however, and his Liberal Party was rewarded at the polls when he was able to show that a carbon tax would not stall economic growth. Canada adopted a federal price on carbon 11 years later.

Mr. Eby said his government will continue to find ways to fight climate change by expanding its clean electricity grid so that industry can tap into low-carbon production.

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad said his party supports the elimination of the tax. “We think it’s the job killer, and it’s critical in terms of affordability,” he said in an interview. But he criticized the decision to leave output-based carbon pricing for heavy industrial polluters in place. “That just gets passed on to consumers anyway, and it helps to make businesses uncompetitive in this province.”