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Canadians are already feeling the added burden of the tax when they gas up their vehicles and pay higher grocery costs

Cost of carbon tax to small and medium sized enterprises



The Trudeau government wants Canadians to believe its first carbon tax (remember, they have several like the proposed clean fuel standards), will be no big hardship to them. Proponents of the levy insist citizens will get back more than they pay when they receive tax rebates. To this I say, nonsense. Polls suggest Canadians are already feeling the added burden of the tax when they gas up their vehicles and pay higher grocery costs. Many cannot afford to wait for rebates at tax time that may not materialize.
Like every other carbon tax everywhere, there will be no neutrality, no net benefit, no upside--only more government, more bureaucracy, and a shuffling of dollars from one pocket to another. Oh, and expect more big company virtue signaling about sustainability as they negotiate exceptions to paying the tax themselves. This allows government to reward companies that publicly endorse their carbon tax by granting exemptions to those who 'play ball'. So who will pay? Every one of us will do so in a variety of hidden ways, but small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will bear the biggest burden. SMEs are caught between rocks (more and more aggressive government rules) and hard places (increasing competition from our carbon-tax free US counterparts). A canvas of the members of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Business of Canada reveals the dilemma very clearly. For my own business, the extra cost will be $50,000 this year, rising to $100,000 in 2022. A family-owned baked goods company will see over $17,000 in new costs now, growing to over $65,000 in 2022. A freight company will see new costs of $200,000, and a medium-sized steel company will pay a whopping $400,000. Where does Mr. Trudeau think this money will come from? In Ontario, the one-time economic engine of the country, SMEs have had to absorb more and more of the added costs arising from increasing levels of red tape and taxation. The cascading effects of dramatically higher minimum wage costs, compounded by electricity prices that are 3x those paid by competitors, plus the first federal carbon tax and the impending clean fuel standard have all hit us very hard, especially in light of the uncertainty of what government might do next.

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Consider the consequences of these added burdens to doing business in Canada. Companies are leaving, and jobs are harder to come by. It seems every week a company is either announcing it's decision to close, or opting to quietly terminate staff while it ceases operations. Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna stood up in the House of Commons recently and accused her political opponents of sacrificing the future of Canadian children by not embracing her aggressive climate change plan. Wow. Talk about the need for a reality check. Has Ms. McKenna considered how her policies are sacrificing the future by burdening our children with massive debt, with fewer job opportunities, or with an uncompetitive economy? Has she considered how SMEs--a significant entry point for young people into the working world--are being decimated, killing future job opportunities? Is she prepared to see more and more Canadians suffer because they can't pay their bills--all of which are rising in an economy burdened by the Trudeau government's short-sightedness? Canadians need a government that is proud of the country's resource wealth, of its unparalleled environmental standards, and of its willingness to help the less fortunate around the world. By doing so, Canada's economic strength can serve as a positive example to the world of how a country's wealth can be a benefit to all. We don't need to be ashamed or to apologise for being blessed with the kind of resources other nations would kill for. If we did changed our attitude, we would not only help Canadians, but help deliver a clean and affordable quality of life to others without any need for a job-killing carbon tax.


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Jocelyn Bamford -- Bio and Archives

Jocelyn Bamford is the president and founder of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada.


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