That's funny, Dan.
The commissioner of the environment and sustainable development says we're on track. Three hundred top economists from across Canada say that not only is carbon pricing effective, but it's also not impacting family finances to the degree being claimed by a lot of politicians. We should also look back and forward with respect to who's talking about carbon pricing in the world, who's leading the way and what type of country we want to be. The Nobel Prize-winning economist William Nordhaus, who has been the leading economist on how to reduce emissions, says that Canada has been getting it right. Frankly, I would welcome feedback or criticism from economists, paleoclimatologists or anybody who would like to suggest that Canada's carbon pricing system with the Canada carbon rebate isn't both driving down emissions—coupled with the other pricing mechanisms, like the output-based mechanism—and supporting Canadians in need.
Over the course of the break, I visited a food bank and did a bit of work with some vulnerable community members. I considered what life is like if you're earning less than $40,000 a year and have to put food on the table for a family. In that context, $1,000 tax-free from the government represents 2.5% of your take-home pay. It's a significant amount of money. The Canada carbon rebate is a significant support for people who take public transit, have to heat smaller homes and have a smaller carbon footprint.
I'll go back to the 2021 election. I know I bring this up a lot. Many Conservative members still have the Conservative plan “Secure the Environment” up on their websites and Facebook. It's still there. Anybody can find that information online. I will remind my colleagues opposite that they ran on a very similar plan to price carbon, up to $50 a tonne. They planned to use an output-based system. In an alternate universe where the Conservatives won the 2021 election, we would be in a country that is pricing carbon and lowering emissions with market-based instruments.
I want to say again that the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, contrary to what my colleague said, says we are on track to reaching our emissions reduction targets. It's also worth noting that emissions were on the way up in 2015 and lately have been on the way down. We can continue this momentum together. It doesn't need to be a partisan thing. It doesn't need to be the Liberal plan or the Conservative plan. It can be Canada's carbon emissions reduction plan. It's something we all want to do. We all want to achieve that.
I think we should get to the next phase collectively. Hopefully, in the next study looking at climate finance, we can ask some more experts what their views and opinions are. We can ditch the partisanship at the door a bit.
We were asked as a government to provide modelling and some details on how carbon pricing works. We did that. People are satisfied. I'll be honest: I know university math and a lot of it is over my head. I—