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Alberta’s leadership role in emissions control for 20 years

Questioning the NDP on carbon tax and the oil and gas industry.


During debate on Bill C-32 Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, I asked my NDP colleague if he knew that Alberta was the first province to introduce an industrial carbon tax (very different than the Liberal-NDP tax on individual Canadian consumers) some 20 years ago.

From his answer, it was clear that he didn’t know (or wouldn’t acknowledge) Alberta’s leadership role in addressing GHG emissions decades ago. Painting Alberta as anything other than “the bad guy” is not consistent with the way the Trudeau Liberals and their NDP supporters want to portray the country.

I also pointed out that oil and gas companies have paid $30 billion more in taxes already this year than in the previous year. Canadians are seeing the proceeds from the higher price on resources. The question is whether the government is spending that windfall wisely and putting some of it against debt as a hedge against future years. The answer, clearly, is no.

Transcript

Consult the official Hansard transcript here.