A group of Sudburians gathered in front of Tom Davies Square on Sunday, April 21 — one day ahead of Earth Day — for a rally celebrating the Canada Carbon Rebate.
The event was organized by Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury, Fridays for Future and Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
According to the Canada Revenue Agency’s website, the Canada Carbon Rebate, formerly known as the Climate Action Incentive Payment, is a tax-free amount to help eligible individuals and families offset the cost of the federal pollution pricing.
Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré was among those who attended the April 21 rally.
He said the Canada Carbon Rebate program has actually been in place since 2019, but formerly, people received it as a tax credit rather than a cheque they received quarterly.
It’s a change the government has made to make the Canada Carbon Rebate more visible, as people didn’t know what they were getting the money for.
“Now we’ve changed it to have in people's bank accounts so they could actually see it,” he said. “But people have been getting this for four years, and people are shocked when I tell them that.”
Why is a price on pollution important?
“It’s to encourage people to look at their behaviours,” Serré said. “I know it's difficult in Northern Ontario, we have limited options like a big city. I get that. That's why we increased the rural rebate to 20 per cent, which is now stuck in Parliament because the Conservatives are blocking it.”
Serré said there’s a lot of “misinformation” out there about putting a price on pollution regarding inflation. He said the United States has no carbon tax and has higher inflation than Canada does.
“So to say that the price on pollution is increasing inflation is wrong, totally wrong,” he said.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby international program director and Sudburian Cathy Orlando, one of the Earth Day Rally’s organizers, said many experts, including Nobel prize-winning economists, agree that a price on pollution is necessary.
In terms of gas price increases, Orlando said that's mostly a result of “the oil and gas companies pumping the prices up and down.”
The scheduled increase this month added about 3.3 cents more to the carbon price per litre of gasoline.
“I don't know if you've ever been to Europe, but it’s $4 to $5 a litre for gasoline, and most of that is excise taxes and carbon taxes,” she said. “We get off scot-free here, comparatively. I want people to know that putting a price on pollution is key to getting off of fossil fuels, and fossil fuels are the key to global warming.”
Canadian Carbon Rebate payments are based on household size and for a family of four range from $190 in New Brunswick to $450 in Alberta, said a Canadian Press story.
The rebate amounts are set annually based on how much carbon price Ottawa expects to collect in each province.
The parliamentary budget officer says about 80 per cent of Canadians get back more from the rebates than they pay.
He also says though that the economic impact of carbon pricing could lower wages over time, erasing that benefit for some Canadians. The government however argues that climate change itself can cause economic harm if it is left unchecked.
The Conservatives insist the carbon price is making life less affordable for Canadians, while the Liberals say their rebate scheme means most Canadians actually end up with more money at the end of the day, a Canadian Press story said.
The Opposition leader spent March travelling across the country, including to Liberal- and NDP-held ridings in the Greater Toronto Area, Atlantic Canada and British Columbia, hosting "axe the tax" rallies.
Pierre Poilievre vows to scrap the policy if he becomes prime minister after the next election.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com's assistant editor.
-With files from Canadian Press
