B.C. officially kills its consumer carbon tax — but with few details on what comes next

British Columbia's 17 years of having a consumer carbon tax ended on Tuesday, not with a bang, but with an air of resignation. 

"I support the policy. I thought it was a good policy. I fought for the policy," said Premier David Eby at a news conference on Monday afternoon, where he talked about the imminent demise of the policy at the hands of his own government.

"Without a doubt, the policy became absolutely toxic with British Columbians."

While that wasn't the case with all British Columbians, Eby had long made the political calculus it was no longer worth fighting for. 

WATCH | UBC economist says axing the carbon tax will hurt people more than it helps them: 

Axing the carbon tax a 'foolish move,' says UBC economist

22 days ago

Duration 2:54

"Never try to solve an income problem with prices," says UBC Okanagan economist Ross Hickey. He says the affordability crisis is more of an income than a price problem and tells BC Today host Michelle Eliot that higher-income households carried most of the burden of the carbon tax, while lower-income consumers got rebates that exceeded the amount they paid.

In September, he promised to scrap the consumer carbon tax if the federal government waived the requirement.

And on Monday, with that waiver in place, Eby's government fast-tracked a bill through the legislature to kill it prior to the scheduled April 1 increase.

After several hours of debate, it passed around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The immediate effect will be the elimination of 17.61 cents per litre to the price of gas for most motorists.   

But even with more than six months of advance notice, there are several potential effects of the elimination that Eby was unable to directly answer on Monday.

Gas companies could hike prices

For starters, what will happen if gas companies raise the price at the pump by a commensurate 17.61 cents per litre, as people on social media have already speculated based on spikes at their local stations?

"A little heads-up to the oil and gas companies …now is not a time to be playing games," said Eby, who argued regulations forcing gas companies to report increases to the utilities commission would work as intended.

What about the revenue the province kept from the carbon tax, which it factored into its budget presented earlier this month, creating an estimated $1.5 billion additional fiscal hole?

"We are not going to be increasing … taxes to make up the difference," said Eby, who promised a review of all government programs "to ensure we're delivering programs as efficiently as possible."

And what about the portion of the carbon tax returned to many residents via the climate action tax credit, which, for many lower-income citizens, was greater than the cost of the tax itself?

"This is significant for many British Columbians," admitted Eby. "And that payment will not be happening anymore."

He offered no follow-up or defence of that tradeoff, only the acknowledgement later on in the news conference that this would not have been his first choice.

"The policy has run its course. British Columbians don't support it; they don't want it. We listen to the people," he said.

Industrial carbon tax to remain

Finally, what about B.C.'s reputation as a leader in climate policy?

Eby pointed out the province's industrial carbon tax would stay in place and said it would "restructure significant parts of the Clean B.C. program" — though again, without many details.

"It's going to be a reality-based policy around fighting climate change in a way that grows our economy and supports British Columbians with the cost of daily life," he said.

In the legislature, outside of the short time allotted to the Green Party, there was little debate over whether the carbon tax was effective in achieving its aim of reducing carbon emissions. 

The opposition Conservative Party focused on the NDP's reversal in supporting it and the lack of opportunity for extensive debate, while the government defended the need to act quickly.

University of B.C. political science professor Kathryn Harrison said the tax, enacted by the former B.C. Liberal Party in 2008, at a time when the rest of the country was without one, had a positive effect.

"There were, by my count, about 15 studies that found that the consumer carbon price was effective in reducing emissions below what they would otherwise be," she said.

"We would need higher carbon prices to see absolute reductions."

Indeed, British Columbia's gross greenhouse gas emissions stayed effectively flat from 65.5 million tonnes in 2007 to 65.6 million tonnes in 2022, the most recent year available.

A trendline and legacy that could be interpreted and debated in multiple ways — much like the history of the controversial tax itself.