Environment committee  I am very supportive of a price on carbon pollution as a suite of initiatives that we should have in place to deal with climate change. But I'm also interested in the effectiveness and the efficiency around that. I was mayor of Cranbrook from 2011 to 2014. About 2013, the way the price worked there, the municipality owed about $60,000 or $70,000, in theory, to the province for our carbon costs.

Environment committee  The taxation system can be very confusing to Canadians. Is there any information that the federal government needs to be providing to taxpayers to make sure they are maximizing their opportunity to benefit from any of these initiatives? Right now, if I go to an accountant, they may pick up on something that could benefit me that normally I wouldn't even know was there.

Environment committee  “Progressive” is a very optimistic word in that context. When you get a rebate, will there be any encouragement to spend that rebate on something environmentally friendly or green? Are there any extra incentives at all?

Environment committee  Okay, so at this point we don't know what approach British Columbia will take come next year, and therefore whether or not people in my B.C. riding can expect a cheque.

Environment committee  It would be up to the province to decide. Okay. The second part of it is this. Regardless of where you are, if you make $50,000 a year and somebody else makes $20,000 a year, what might that look like in terms of a cheque?

Environment committee  Thank you. Thank you very much for being here today. I'm trying to make it clear in my own mind, and hopefully for others, what the differences might be, if any. If you make $50,000 as income and you live in British Columbia, or you make $50,000 and you live in Alberta, is there any difference in terms of what you're going to get in the way of a cheque or in terms of taxation implications?

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  And the reason it's not going to apply in the other provinces....

Environment committee  So now I am confused, because in British Columbia, of course, we've had a tax in place since about 2008, I think. In 2007, we got a cheque from the government. In 2008 the tax came into effect. The money went into a green pot, and you could apply for green projects to come out of that pot.

Environment committee  Canadian Council, are there any particularly effective ways that you've seen?

Environment committee  There are no investments you are aware of, then, but there are benefits.

Environment committee  Will these benefit air quality?

Environment committee  In British Columbia, when carbon pricing came into place 10 years ago, in 2007, we all got a cheque in the mail from the government in preparation for the new tax coming in. In 2008, when the tax came in, the money went into a pool, and various organizations could apply for funds out of that pool to invest in green initiatives.

Environment committee  There's no particular model you would prefer.

Environment committee  Thank you. Thank you for being with us today. I have a question for the Canadian Council on Renewable Electricity. I know you are looking mostly at electricity, but have you also looked at the impact of building new crude oil pipelines on the potential of meeting our climate change targets?