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According to 11 out of every 10 economists, the best way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to implement a carbon tax. Or, if you happen to be a Liberal prime minister or MP: “putting a price on pollution.”

As has been repeatedly drilled into Canadians over the past several years, carbon taxes are supposed to be the most efficient, least costly and entirely revenue-neutral solution to fighting climate change. We know this because Ottawa tells us so. As does the self-appointed Ecofiscal Commission. And an apparently endless series of experts, self-appointed and otherwise. Got that? Carbon taxes are the best of all possible options.

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So then why are Canadians getting carbon taxes plus all other tax, subsidy and regulatory options? Isn’t that the worst of all possible worlds?

Why are Canadians getting carbon taxes plus all other tax, subsidy and regulatory options?

The public face of Ottawa’s carbon-pricing plan recently imposed on New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan (and perhaps Alberta in short order) has two parts. First is a tax on hydrocarbon fuels and energy used by consumers and small-and-medium sized businesses — with Ottawa promising most families getting back more than they paid in “climate action dividends.” Then there’s a separate scheme for big business, which had the foresight (and lobbying muscle) to arrange for itself a deal that sees up to 90 per cent of its costs returned via rebates and subsidies.