Dear John,

While Canadians are facing a housing crisis and staggering inflation, the federal government increased its carbon tax to $65 a tonne on April 1 – on pace to hit its stated goal of $170 per tonne by 2030.

For years, they claimed that their carbon tax will have “almost zero” impact on the economy – without providing any analysis of the effects of the tax.

So in 2021, the Fraser Institute published the first independent, publicly available analysis of the estimated effects of a $170 per tonne carbon tax.

Our study found that, far from “almost zero” impact on the economy, the $170 carbon tax would have massive impacts to the economy, including: higher deficits, fewer jobs, decline in GDP, and higher energy costs for Canadian families.

Despite this, the government continued to claim the carbon tax was a good thing for Canadians, even going as far as to repeatedly claim that “most Canadians” would “get more (money) back” than they put in.

In recent weeks though, those narratives have begun to crumble.

A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that when the $170 per tonne goal is hit, “most households will see a net loss, despite the rebate payments offered by the federal government to offset the surcharge.”

“Of course it's going to cost Canadians more than is rebated”, read a recent National Post headline.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault himself even conceded that “On average, households will pay more” in a recent CTV interview.

John - our expert, peer-reviewed studies regularly shed light on inconvenient truths for politicians!

While it is nice to hear politicians and those in the media finally acknowledging the truth that we uncovered years ago on this particular issue, the Trudeau government continues to frame their record-high spending and ever-rising taxes as good for the economy and for Canadians.

We need to be ready to continue to push back against these false narratives, and give people the facts they need to hold their governments accountable.

Can you help us do that?

We don’t accept government funding to conduct our research. We rely entirely on supporters like you!

If you’re able to, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute