Canada To Get A ‘Second Carbon Tax’ On July 1, 2023

Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR) Will Cost Every Working Canadian An Extra $1,277 Per Year!

The federal government are set to bring in new Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR) on Canada Day (July 1) next year that are supposed to “reduce carbon emissions” – but in fact do the exact opposite according to a published report by LFX Associates of Toronto.

According to the research commissioned by the advocacy group Canadians for Affordable Energy, the tax-grab will cost the average employed Canadian more than $1,277 a year – about $25 a week or $50 per week for a two-income family.

The LFX research paper “An Economic Analysis of the 2022 Federal Clean Fuels Standard” [pdf], says the estimate takes into account “increased energy costs, lower wages, lower capital earnings and increased indirect costs throughout the rest of the economy.”

The Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR) “will put downward pressure on government revenues leading to an increase in the consolidated government deficit in every year of the policy’s implementation, reaching $5 billion nationally in 2030 and $10 billion in 2040… The extra government debt accumulated by 2040 as a result of the policy will be $95.2 billion” the analysis states.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault did not dispute the Canadians for Affordable Energy figures, but said “the expense was justifiable,” when questioned in the Commons on Oct. 21, 2022. “Climate change is costing Canadians billions” he added, and “we’ll make sure we’re lining our own pockets with most of it” he didn’t add.

Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, said in an Oct. 18 statement: “This new carbon tax is being released at a time of soaring household costs. Grocery prices have skyrocketed. Families are struggling to afford the basic necessities for their home. Now the Trudeau government is going to make it even more expensive…the clean fuel standard amounts to a second carbon tax that will add to the rising cost of living.”

Let’s Also Not Forget:

On June 28, 2019 Trudeau quietly introduced a fuel tax of 4.4¢/litre (also applied to home heating oil & gas). In 2020 it increased to 6.6¢/litre, 2021 another 7.7¢/litre and in 2022 another 11¢/litre.

Don’t Miss The Small Print…

While the cost of living for everyone will increase thanks to the additional taxes, if you take the time to read the paper you’ll find the most damning information gets skipped over… from the paper:

Economic Consequences Of The Clean Fuels Standard (CFS)
Adding a regulatory measure such as a CFS on top of a carbon pricing scheme destroys the economic efficiency of carbon pricing and raises the cost of achieving the overall policy goal.

Canada has already achieved clean fuels usage in motor vehicles through improved vehicle technology including catalytic converters and better engines. Specifically:

While the Canadian vehicle fleet tripled in size between 1975 and 2015, vehicle-related local air pollution infractions (carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides) fell to zero across Canada.
From 2000 to 2017, while total vehicle-km traveled on Canadian roads increased more than 20 percent, total vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide and carbon particulates, both fell by over half.
The regulation will require heavy reliance on increased ethanol production – much of it imported from the U.S., which has negative environmental consequences of its own and which may be even worse than those associated with gasoline.

On the latter point, new research published in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (Lark et al. 2022) evaluated the environmental and social impacts of renewable fuel mandates in the U.S. and concluded the following.

Mandates to use ethanol in motor fuels raised the price of corn by 30% and the prices of other food crops by 20%
The policies also led to an increase in fertilizer use of between 3 and 8%, with an attendant reduction in water quality of between 3 and 5%
Corn ethanol produced under the Renewable Fuel Standard has a life-cycle carbon intensity of about 115.7 gCO2e/MJ, which is 24 percent higher than that of gasoline

Consequently, while the analysis herein will assume that the carbon intensity of motor fuels in Canada declines as prescribed in the legislation when computing domestic GHG emissions, the reader should bear in mind that on a life-cycle basis, for Canada and the U.S. together, the federal Clean Fuels Standard will likely result in a fuel supply with higher overall carbon emissions intensity.
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Let me repeat that again….
➫ The federal Clean Fuels Standard will likely result in a fuel supply with higher overall carbon emissions intensity

➫ Canada has already achieved clean fuels usage in motor vehicles

➫ While total vehicle-km traveled on Canadian roads increased more than 20%, total vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide and carbon particulates both fell by more than half (2000 to 2017). That number is probably much greater in 2018-2022 with even cleaner vehicles on the road today!

➫ Increased ethanol production may be even worse than those associated with gasoline

➫ Corn ethanol has a life-cycle carbon intensity which is 24% higher than gasoline

Our Viewpoint

If you want to save money (taxes) and “stick it to the man” your best option is switching to an Electric Vehicle. Granted, it might not be as convenient nor 100% practical, but that’s your best option to save money in the long run because these carbon and “green energy” taxes will just continue going up and up. This is a money grab that will never go away.