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In 2017, the federal government gave each province one year to draw up their own carbon tax.

Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick didn’t, so now they’re being slapped with a federal tax on fossil fuels equal to $20 for every tonne of carbon spewed into the atmosphere.

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But will the new tax actually stop the globe from warming or is it just a cash grab in sheep’s clothing? All your questions are answered below.

It’s overwhelmingly reasonable to assume it will cut emissions

Everyone hates taxes. We write off our cats as dependents to avoid taxes. Entire Caribbean economies are kept afloat because people hate paying taxes. Some hotheads even start revolutions against the British to avoid taxes. One of the key principles of a carbon tax is that by slapping a premium on fossil fuels, you spur people to avoid those fossil fuels in order to dodge the tax. It’s the exact same principle by which raising the minimum wage is known to spur job losses: When labour becomes more expensive, businesses use less of it. Granted, gasoline isn’t like strawberries: You can’t just cut it out of your household budget if it gets pricey. But in the long term there is plenty of precedent to show that when gas is expensive, people find ways to buy less gas. Just take a look at a European highway. The average U.K. gas price is $2.20 CDN per litre and the country is filled with tiny, fuel-efficient cars. The most popular vehicle in Canada right now is the 6,000 pound Ford F-150. The most popular vehicle in Britain? The 2,500 pound Ford Fiesta.