The Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney will be introducing a bill into the province’s legislature which is set to scrap the province’s carbon tax. Once passed, the carbon tax is set to disappear on May 30th of this year.
The Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney will be introducing a bill into the province’s legislature which is set to scrap the province’s carbon tax. Once passed, the carbon tax is set to disappear on May 30th of this year.
Currently, Alberta has a carbon tax which was imposed by former NDP Premier Rachel Notley at $30/tonne.
Kenney campaigned on eliminating the carbon tax before he won his landslide electoral victory defeating the incumbent Notley.
The United Conservative Party was able to secure a majority government on April 16, 2019, winning a total of 63 seats.
Since being elected Kenney has butt heads with the federal government over his intended plan to take carbon pricing out of Alberta.
Several provinces have challenged the federal government over the carbon tax, calling the levy unconstitutional but a recent judge in Saskatchewan has disagreed with their claims, ruling in the government’s favour.
Minister of the Environment, Catherine McKenna has claimed that the federal government will fight against the province’s decision to evade its environmental responsibility.
“I don’t want to speculate on what’s going to happen, but we’ve been clear that it should not be free to pollute anywhere in the country and we have a backstop should provinces not have a price on pollution,” said McKenna.
If Alberta drops its own provincial tax, a federal pricing scheme will come into effect in the province.
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