Guilbeault will 'likely' support a GLOBAL carbon tax, whether Canadians want it or not
Guilbeault appeared to back a global carbon tax at the most recent UN Climate Summit (COP29) last month. If implemented, tax revenues would fund climate action in third-world countries.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation expressed worry over Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault backing a global carbon tax on maritime transportation.
Trudeau’s environment czar backed a global carbon tax at the annual UN Climate Summit (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, last month, after telling reporters they face a $2 trillion climate aid shortfall.
“In other words, your kids’ shoes and family vacations will be more expensive,” said the Taxpayers Federation. “Then the unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats at international organizations will dictate which country will receive your hard-earned money.”
A Department of Environment manager previously said the carbon tax has no impact in reducing most greenhouse gas emissions. The Trudeau government has never met an emissions target, claimed Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco.
“Canada is the only G7 country that has not achieved any emission reduction since 1990,” he said. “That needs to change now.”
On climate aid, the UN earlier claimed progress on “multiple fronts,” including an agreement to establish a loss and damage fund during COP27, with the terms agreed upon at COP28.
Further suggestions include “a maritime GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions pricing mechanism,” as first suggested by the United Nations International Marine Organization. That roughly translates to a new carbon tax on “everything shipped across the oceans,” said the Taxpayers Federation.
Guilbeault initially backed the maritime shipping tax before walking back his remarks days later. “So which one is it?” said the Taxpayers Federation in a column for the National Post.
“After hitting Canadians with a carbon tax on fuel, an industrial carbon tax and a de facto carbon tax buried in the clean fuel regulations, has Guilbeault finally found a carbon tax he doesn’t love at first sight?”
No policy on the maritime tax has been tabled to date, but the Taxpayers Federation says Guilbeault will likely support another carbon tax on Canadians.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) boasted more than $104 billion in carbon revenues were collected by governments last year. It claimed carbon taxes and emissions trading systems account for 24% of the world’s emissions — up from 7% in 2013.
Other globalist entities, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), have also championed the carbon tax.
“Carbon pricing can be one of the most powerful tools to help countries reduce emissions. That’s why it is good to see these instruments expand to new sectors, become more adaptable and complement other measures,” said World Bank managing director Axel van Trotsenburg.
The IMF specifically backed an “urgent need for a global carbon tax on aviation and shipping.” It would cost Canada about 0.52% of GDP by 2035, posing a $23.6 billion cost to the economy.
The Conservative Party promptly criticized calls for another levy, noting tax revenues would be sent abroad to other countries. G20 countries are being asked to carry the financial burden of ‘climate change’ through 2030, reads a climate finance report.
“On climate finance, the world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said November 12. The Trudeau government plans to invest $5 billion in climate aid for developing countries from 2021 to 2026.
If implemented, a maritime shipping tax would cost upwards of “$200 billion by 2035, which could make a substantial contribution to climate finance for developing economies,” according to IMF estimates.
Approximately 70% of countries do not have a national carbon tax, according to World Bank data.
In response to an order paper submitted last year by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis, parliamentarians learned the Trudeau government paid the WEF $493,937 to write a favourable report on the carbon tax.
“Global interest groups should not be trusted to care about the prosperity of Canadians,” she said on March 18.
“Canada could do more for the environment — and save taxpayers money — by ending its practice of flying a battalion of politicians and bureaucrats half-way around the world to attend expensive conferences,” wrote the Taxpayers Federation.
“At a minimum, Guilbeault may have an easier time figuring out where he stands on global carbon taxes if his thoughts weren’t drowned out by the sound of taxpayer-funded jet engines flying him to far-flung destinations all the time.”
Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
COMMENTS
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2024-12-10 01:21:43 -0500All people like Guilbeault are interested in is one world government by any means necessary.
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Bruce Atchison commented 2024-12-09 19:12:12 -0500Guilbeault is a reprehensible person and one who is totally benefiting from the green scam. Trump was right to call it that. These new greens are the old reds. They want to replace our free society with a government-managed one. We saw in the Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany how that worked out for the people.