Article content

OTTAWA — Canadians may have been told that carbon pricing is a “job-killing tax on everything,” but a new study finds the impact rather underwhelming.

The latest report from Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission says only four per cent of the overall Canadian economy would be exposed to competitive pressures if carbon was priced at $30 a tonne, although some specific sectors are harder hit.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Report finds 96 per cent of Canadian economy no less competitive under carbon pricing Back to video

“We wrote it because there’s a bunch of businesses out there saying we can’t do this: ‘It’s going to put us out of business’,” Chris Ragan, the McGill University economist who heads the independent commission, said in an interview.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Is that really true? For the most part, it’s not true, and where it is an issue, we can deal with it.”

Pricing carbon is a current Canadian reality, with provinces representing almost 80 per cent of the population either already imposing some kind of carbon levy or in the process of doing so. The newly elected Liberal government of Justin Trudeau won a majority mandate last month on a platform that included working with the provinces to establish countrywide carbon pricing.