Environment Ministry says the PBO can release previously withheld carbon tax impact analysis

The Canadian Press / Paul Daly

Environment and Climate Change Canada has announced that the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) can release information on the impact of the carbon tax in response to an order paper inquiry posed by Conservative MP Marty Morantz.

"ECCC recognizes the PBO’s discretion to release some or all of the information as he sees fit and trusts the PBO will manage the information he receives in accordance with his mandate and any relevant legal requirements. We have reviewed all of the data in the material that was released on June 13 and are confident that none of it is confidential and can therefore be disclosed publicly."

It followed a disclosure from the PBO during the Standing Committee on Finance on June 3, 2024, in which the PBO revealed that his office had accessed the government's economic analysis on the carbon tax and Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS) but was explicitly instructed not to disclose the findings to the public.

Morantz's order paper question sought answers: who in the government had imposed this gag order, what the findings of the suppressed analysis were, and how this aligns with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 2015 commitment to providing Canadians with “the most transparent and open government in the world.”

Responding on behalf of the government, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault sidestepped the core concerns but promised a future release of the data. 

He stated that the Department of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) provided the PBO with raw data sets, not a comprehensive economic analysis. Guilbeault suggested that some of this data contained sensitive information about private companies, which required confidentiality under the Statistics Act. 

However, the PBO’s office indicated it had reviewed the economic analysis. not just raw data, leaving the original gag order unexplained.

The suppression of economic analysis hints that the government is concealing bad news about the true financial impact of the carbon tax on Canadian families and businesses in advance of the next election in October 2025. 

Canadians face rising costs and crushing inflation and the full economic consequences of the carbon tax remain hidden from those who bear the burden it.