OTTAWA—The Greens are the only major political party that vows to increase the federal carbon price after 2022, as the NDP now says it has “no plans” to hike the levy on fuel if it holds power after the Oct. 21 election.

One day after telling the Star it would adjust the carbon price as needed to achieve the deeper emissions reductions it is promising during the campaign, the NDP clarified Sunday that any adjustments would only affect the portion of the pricing system that applies to heavy polluters — not the charge that applies to gasoline and other fuels burned in the economy at large.

“We will review and adjust the industrial carbon price as needed, but we have no plans to increase the carbon price for consumers,” NDP spokesperson Mélanie Richer said Sunday.

“We’re focused on making sure that big polluters are paying for pollution,” she said.

The federal carbon price has become a hot-rod for political contention as the parties vying for votes during the current election campaign try to convince Canadians they have the right mix of policies to combat climate change and soothe concerns about the cost of living.

Earlier this summer, Liberal environment minister Catherine McKenna ruled out any further increase to the federal carbon price, after the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported it would need to increase to $102 per tonne if Canada relied solely on this policy to hit its 2030 target for greenhouse gas reduction.

McKenna later backtracked, saying the price level could increase after that year and will be subject to consultations.

The price kicked in at $20 per tonne this year, and is set to climb to $50 per tonne in 2022. It also includes tax rebates the government says exceed how much 80 per cent of recipients pay for the carbon price each year.

The Conservatives, however, have rejected the policy as a tax-grab in disguise, with party leader Andrew Scheer joining a coalition of premiers in arguing the federal price will hurt the economy and eliminate jobs by making consumer goods and business operations more expensive. Scheer has vowed to scrap the carbon price in favour of a system to force polluters to spend unspecified amounts of their own money to develop their greener technology.

Meanwhile, the Greens and NDP both support carbon pricing, but also pledge to make changes to the Liberal government’s pricing system if they hold power in the next parliament.

The current federal price has two components: a levy on fuels like gasoline and diesel, and a pricing system for heavy polluters that forces them to pay only for the portion of their greenhouse gas emissions that exceeds industry-specific thresholds.

The NDP now says it has no intention to increase the fuel levy beyond $50 in 2022, but will increase the portion of emissions that heavy polluters need to pay for.

The Greens promise to go further. When introducing her party’s climate plan last spring, Green Leader Elizabeth May said her party would continue increasing the federal carbon price $10 per year after 2022.

In an email Sunday, Green spokesperson Rosie Emery said the party would also ditch the pricing system for heavy polluters in favour of a “fee and dividend” model that would see all polluters pay the same price for the entirety of their emissions. Revenues would be divided equally among all Canadians and sent as a payout directly to every individual.

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Canada is currently on track to fall short of its pledge under the Paris Agreement to cut emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. The Liberals insist future policies and technological improvements will ensure Canada hits this target, while the Conservatives say their plan to ditch the carbon price in favour of other measures will give Canada its “best chance” of meeting it.

The Greens want Canada to double its target to 60 per cent below 2005 levels, while the NDP says their $15 billion climate plan would set Canada on course to exceed its Paris target and reduce emissions to 38 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

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