B.C. Premier David Eby says he will remove the consumer carbon price once the federal government removes the requirement for provinces to have it.
Eby confirmed the news at a press conference in Victoria on Monday morning.
This comes after new Liberal Leader Mark Carney said he would immediately eliminate the federal government’s carbon price on consumers and stop the capital gains tax increase.
“I think it’s unfortunate that a policy that existed between governments for a long time in British Columbia — successful policy, and driving down our carbon pollution that had support ultimately on both sides of the legislature — was politicized and accelerated … in the face of a cost-of-living crisis in a way that cost public support across the political spectrum for it,” Eby said.
“I think that’s really unfortunate because it was an important tool here in British Columbia. With that said, we made an unambiguous commitment to British Columbians that we will get rid of that carbon tax. We will move as quickly as we can following the removal of the federal law that requires us to have it in place and ensure that we’re able to move forward.”
Eby said the province will continue to make sure that big polluters pay the province.
