Carbon tax ruling provides policy certainty, but concerns remain about the competitiveness of Canadian businesses – Canadian Chamber of Commerce

(OTTAWA) – March 25, 2021 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Director of Natural Resources & Sustainable Growth, Dr. Aaron Henry, issued the following statement regarding today’s Supreme Court decision on the federal carbon tax:

“We know that to make effective progress on reducing their emissions, Canadian businesses need certainty on what government policies and regulations will be. Today’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax provides important clarity that businesses require to make the investments necessary to reduce their exposure to the tax. 

However, the issue is divisive for many Canadians. Understanding that the federal carbon tax and its incremental increases on the price on carbon over the following decades are here to stay is one thing. Ensuring businesses are able to successfully navigate a carbon price with confidence is quite another. To succeed, businesses will need sustainable finance and public policy supports. Canadian businesses have already taken impressive steps to bring all of us closer to Canada’s ambitious net-zero target, but further progress will require close collaboration between government and industry.

For example, the government will need to address issues for businesses facing sector-specific challenges, including agriculture, and small-to-medium-sized businesses that will be particularly hard-hit by the tax. Finding solutions, as we saw earlier this year with the exemption granted for on-farm grain drying, will require government working alongside business to help them successfully navigate policies and address industry concerns like the high costs of decarbonisation and how to stay competitive.

These issues are especially important in the context of COVID-19, which has strained the business community like never before. Many simply cannot take on additional financial burdens. Close consultation and collaboration will be essential to the country’s success as Canada recovers from the pandemic and transitions to a net-zero future.”

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.

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For more information, please contact:

Emily Walsh
ewalsh@chamber.ca