Guilbeault defends emissions cap as attacks mount

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OTTAWA — Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Wednesday that the looming threat of a 25-per-cent tariff on all Canadian exports to the United States won’t dissuade him from pursuing an ambitious climate action plan, anchored by the federal carbon tax.

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“Of course, we’re going to continue with the carbon tax because it creates jobs,” Guilbeault told a House of Commons committee studying Canada’s emissions policies. “It helps us to promote investment and reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions.”

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The Liberal government ratcheted up the carbon levy from $65 to $80 a tonne in April, ignoring widespread calls for a pause in the scheduled increase. The price will rise by an additional $15 per year until it hits $170 a tonne in 2030.

Guilbeault said on Wednesday that no plans had been made about price increases after 2030.

The environment minister also defended his ministry’s controversial draft regulations for a cap on oil and gas emissions, unveiled earlier this month.

“Measures like the proposed pollution cap are crucial in addressing emissions from Canada’s highest polluting sectors,” Guilbeault said in a short opening statement.

The cap has been widely panned by energy industry groups, with one recent study finding it would reduce oil production by 626,000 barrels per day by 2030. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Tuesday that she’ll use the province’s sovereignty act to shield its oil and gas facilities from the cap.

Guilbeault’s comments come two days after president-elect Donald Trump’s bombshell announcement that he’ll slap a 25-per-cent-tariff on both Canada and Mexico as a first order of business when he takes office in January.

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The remarks also come at a time when several influential figures are calling for Canada to adopt more pragmatic energy policies in anticipation of the second Trump presidency, including some of Guilbeault’s fellow Liberals.

“It is time to stop dithering around with domestic policy that kills our biggest GDP generators and job creators, like the emissions cap, and move with alacrity to support our most productive industries,” said Lisa Baiton, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers on Tuesday in response to Trump’s announcement.

Hours before Guilbeault’s comments, Liberal economic advisor Mark Carney said that Canada should be more aggressive in using energy as a source of leverage in trade negotiations with the U.S.

“We need to be an essential trading partner of theirs,” Carney said at an Ottawa event hosted by the Cardus Institute. “We need them to want to trade with us.”

“And that’s energy,” Carney continued, pointing to Canada’s most powerful bargaining chip versus the U.S.

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Former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau expressed similar sentiments in a television interview earlier this month, discussing the smaller, 10-per-cent tariff that Trump had originally promised during his presidential campaign.

“We’re going to need to think about whether we focus on energy security in a way that makes up clearly an important part of the U.S. sector that way,” said Morneau in reaction to Trump’s election.

“And that means, we have to ask ourselves, is it really the right time for caps on emissions?”

National Post

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