Mr. Speaker, the second petition I have the pleasure to present today is from Canadians who realize the current pandemic is causing significant disruptions to business models.
The petitioners remember that during the 2019 federal election, the environment minister at the time assured Canadians that the carbon tax would be frozen at $50 a tonne annually as of 2022 and that the Liberal government has repeatedly told Canadians that the carbon tax would be revenue neutral for most taxpayers.
Now the first-ever annual carbon tax revenue report indicates tax collections were as much as 21% higher than rebates paid to taxpayers in four provinces: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. The plan, entitled “A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy”, now proposes to increase the consumer carbon tax to $170 per tonne as of 2030.
This petition calls upon the government to keep its promise to Canadians and not increase the carbon tax beyond $50 per tonne.