HALIFAX – The chairman of Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission says the time is right for governments in Atlantic Canada to consider some form of carbon pricing.
Chris Ragan says the idea is a growing global trend with 40 national and 20 sub-national jurisdictions involved in either carbon tax or cap-and-trade initiatives.
Ragan says a carbon tax in particular is a better option for the economy and the environment for provinces looking to increase revenues, than other options such as increasing corporate, personal and sales taxes.
He says it’s a matter of being at the forefront of an increasing worldwide demand for low-carbon products.
A report released in November by former Ontario cabinet minister Laurel Broten on Nova Scotia’s tax system called for a carbon tax as part of a number of tax changes to improve the province’s fiscal situation.
The Nova Scotia government has not committed to the idea, but hasn’t ruled it out as part of future fiscal reform.
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