Finance committee  We are prepared to begin. What's more, this has started in Alberta. Since July 1, 2007, Alberta has had a carbon tax, like the one in Quebec.

Finance committee  It will probably cost us up to $150 million, that we will pay to the Government of Alberta for a technology fund. That is how we will pay this carbon tax here in Alberta.

Finance committee  One is based on international energy and one is based on domestic energy. From what I've read, it appears that if you structure a carbon tax based on domestic energy, it's more effective. There would be disadvantages, as this gentleman said, to low-income people, because consumption taxes affect them more than income taxes.

Finance committee  Accounting rules should be changed so that all financial statements include a triple bottom line; in other words, if a corporation had a negative environmental or social impact, they would pay more tax. In addition, we believe in creating a carbon tax in order to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gases. One way or another, the true cost of goods and services needs to be reflected in their price. Failing to implement a system with true costs will delay the changes needed to avoid disastrous climate change until it is too late.

Finance committee  I'll start with the issue of climate change and some of the proposals that were raised this morning. Mr. Garrison said he didn't particularly support a carbon tax. Mr. Hackney, I think you indicated that you did, and that you felt there were ways to address the issue of hardship to low-income people. Now, I'm wondering if you could address that, and how you think that can be done.

Finance committee  Good. Thank you. How about you, Mr. Van Iterson? You spoke about a carbon tax. If the money were dedicated to the specific industries that paid it, wouldn't there be more of an incentive for them to stop polluting?

Environment committee  Generally, the problem with what we've done is that society has treated the atmosphere as a trash that we can put anything into at no cost. This is why many people fought for the introduction of a carbon tax, because it recognizes that if you go to the dump and throw your waste away, you have to pay a cost for that waste. The atmosphere is a dumping ground that has no cost associated with it, and that has to change.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, several times now, the French president has called for Europe to bring in a carbon tax. The French minister of foreign affairs said that the purpose of the tax would be to ensure that no business in any country that failed to comply with the accord could have an unfair advantage.

The Environment  Speaker, if Canada continues to violate the Kyoto accord, we will not be able to escape the carbon tax, which will severely penalize Quebec exporters and manufacturers, who account for 40% of Canada's exports to France. Will the Minister of Industry urge his government to respect Canada's commitments, thereby protecting Quebec's manufacturing industry, which is already in crisis, from an additional burden?

Natural Resources committee  You can also meet, or essentially pay, your carbon tax by investing in science and technology. The real issue is the creation of intellectual capital that is focused on unique Canadian opportunities and challenges.

Environment committee  It sounded as though, yes, it is part of their plan. He's trying to justify increased taxes for Canadians for a carbon tax or an environmental tax or whatever they want to call it. And I just want to make it very clear to Canadians that this is part of the Bill C-288 plan: to increase taxes substantially for Canadians.

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to follow up on the discussion that had been started on the carbon tax, I found out to my surprise a couple of weeks ago when I attended a symposium at which one of the speakers was one of the leading experts on biofuels, from Georgia Tech university, that in fact many large companies in the United States—and I assume that means oil companies—have already calculated the carbon tax in their revenue projections and so on.

Environment committee  With respect to a carbon tax, we followed the proposal in Quebec with some interest. The concern I raise with any dedicated tax is that revenues go into general revenues, and our experience with dedicated taxes in the past hasn't been very encouraging.

Environment committee  Secondly, would I be right in assuming that part of the answer to the question is, of course, the price that you put on things? Whether it's a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system, depending on what you put into the machine, you're going to get certain kinds of results. I guess that shows us the policy options and the choices we have to make.

Environment committee  What our research found was that for Canada to achieve its Kyoto target, you would need immediately a carbon tax of $150 per tonne of CO2. In fact, initially we said $120, but that was because we had been given some information that was not reliable about transportation behaviour. When we adjusted within half a year of the model, it came out at $150 per tonne.