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Liberals running away from their own carbon tax

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 18, 2021

OTTAWA – Today, Liberal members of the Standing Committee on International Trade refused to publicly discuss a motion put forward by the Hon. Gerry Ritz, Official Opposition Critic for International Trade, to conduct a pre-budget study of the Liberal government’s carbon tax and its effects on trade competitiveness in Canada.

“Once the carbon tax is implemented, our exporters are left competing against countries like Australia who have repealed their own carbon tax, and the United States which doens't have one. It’s only prudent to study the consequences a carbon tax would have on our trading economy. The Liberals voted down a similar motion at the Agriculture committee and now refuse to talk about their own policy at Trade committee. What are they so afraid of.” said Gerry Ritz, International Trade Critic.

“I have heard from stakeholders in the United States that the Liberal carbon tax is already making investors wary of investing in Canadian projects,” said Randy Hoback, Official Opposition Critic for Canada-U.S. Relations. “If our closest trading partner is already starting to look away from Canada because they see us being unable to compete in the global marketplace, that is a significant problem for Canadian business. It’s a shame that the Liberals don’t want to have these discussions out in the open.”

“It is unfortunate that the Liberal Members of Committee were unwilling to study the impact of a new carbon tax on trade in Canada, and more specifically the effect this tax will have on SME’s, manufacturers and agriculture producers.” said Dave Van Kesteren, Official Opposition Deputy International Trade Critic.

1 in 5 jobs in Canada and 65 percent of our nation’s GDP is directly linked to trade. Over 75 percent of exports are to the United States, our largest trading partner. Australia had a carbon tax during fiscal years 2012 to 2014, as you can see below their GDP growth suffered during that period.

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