Economists say that both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are cherry-picking numbers from the PBO report on the economic impacts of the carbon tax. Both sets of numbers show the carbon tax is progressive — those with lower incomes do better under carbon pricing than those with higher incomes. It comes to the conclusion that by 2030, the Canadian economy's GDP will be 1.3 per cent smaller than it would have been without a carbon tax. Carbon pricing and alternativesWhile we do not have a direct comparison with another proposed federal emissions reduction policy, economists say that all the evidence so far leads to the conclusion that carbon pricing is cheaper than emission reduction programs that rely on incentives or regulations. "Generally when economists look at policy pathways, regulation is more costly than carbon pricing, carbon pricing is generally thought of as the most efficient option, the one that's going to cause the least amount of drag on the economy," Dolter said.

Source: CBC News October 23, 2022 20:39 UTC