In July 2017, the BC New Democratic Party (NDP) was sworn into office and subsequently released its first provincial budget. The Budget 2017 Update (2017/18 – 2019/20) addressed a number of policy issues including tax measures and new spending on social initiatives. Although the NDP is still in the process of articulating its climate change policy, the budget did announce changes to the BC carbon tax. In particular, the budget provides for the following:
- As of April 1, 2018, an annual increase in the carbon tax of $5 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) until it reaches $50 on April 1, 2021 (the federal government has set a pan-Canadian target carbon price of $50 by 2022). BC’s carbon tax is currently set at $30 per tonne of CO2
- Effective as of September 11, 2017, Part 2 of the Carbon Tax Act has been repealed. This means that the requirement for the BC Ministry of Finance to prepare an annual Carbon Tax Report and Plan will no longer apply. Further, the Carbon Tax Act will no longer require that revenue measures be introduced to offset carbon tax revenues, meaning that the government will be allowed to spend carbon tax revenues on emission reduction measures and other green initiatives, rather than having to return carbon tax revenues to taxpayers.
With the repeal of Part 2 of the Carbon Tax Act, an important reporting and transparency mechanism has been removed. It is uncertain at this time whether the BC NDP will implement a similar reporting mechanism to ensure accountability for the use of carbon tax revenues by the provincial government. It is anticipated that the BC NDP will provide further details on its climate change policy priorities in the coming weeks.