Premier Dwight Ball continues to avoid giving details about whether or not this province will adopt a carbon tax.
Last week, following a court decision against the development of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Extension, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said her province would sit out of the federal carbon pricing plan until the federal government can get work on the pipeline moving.
Previously, Ball indicated Newfoundland and Labrador was taking Alberta’s lead in terms of what this province’s carbon pricing plan would look like.
Should Alberta remain out, Ball says this province could be out, too.
“We would never put Newfoundland and Labrador in a situation where we would not be competitive. Unless all provinces are exposed to carbon pricing, we would never put Newfoundland and Labrador there,” said Ball on Friday.
The provincial government has received an extension on the deadline for provinces to submit an initial carbon plan to the federal government.
Ball says the extension is not prompted by moves from Alberta or Ontario away from carbon pricing, but was something planned all along.
Once the initial plan is sent up to Ottawa, the federal and provincial governments will review the plan to ensure compliance.
But Ball is not releasing the plan publicly until the federal government signs off. It will likely be November before the public gets a glimpse of what carbon pricing will look like in Newfoundland and Labrador — if the province has a plan at all.
For now, Ball says he’s going to play along with the carbon pricing plan, but if any other province manages to opt out of the federal plan, Newfoundland and Labrador will follow suit.
Ball says he doesn’t want this province’s plan out in the public to ensure other provinces can’t use it to influence their own negotiations with Ottawa on carbon pricing.
“Right now, it really comes down to doing due diligence and taking the prudent action in not exposing our province and getting our plan out there to become a negotiating tool for other provinces,” said Ball.
To get an idea of what could be coming down the pipe for this province, it is instructive to take a look at what Alberta has been operating under since 2017.
Currently, Alberta has a $30 per tonne price on carbon emissions from heating and transport. There’s also a gasoline tax of 6.73 cents per litre, with 8 cents per litre on diesel. Propane sees a tax of 4.62 cents per litre.
This province already sees a total of 20.5 cents per litre of provincial tax on gasoline, 21.5 cents for diesel and seven cents for propane.
The Alberta plan also sees rebates for some consumers.
A low- to middle-income couple in Alberta will see a rebate of approximately $540 a year. The total rebate varies depending on income and usage.
The provincial Tories have opposed any form of carbon pricing for Newfoundland and Labrador since the idea was first proposed.
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