Reports this morning that Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission says Canadians will need to pay $210 a tonne carbon tax to meet its Paris Agreement on Climate Change isn’t going to be cheap. The report estimates an extra 40 cents a litre at the pumps, but in reality that cost is much higher.

For provinces currently without or with small carbon taxes, such as Alberta and Nova Scotia, the net tax increase which can’t avoid the application of a GST or HST works out to between 48 and 53 cents a litre. As such the estimated “40 cent a litre” impact by the Commission underestimates the true cost.

It should also be pointed out that industrial emissions caps will also affect the cost of living for everyone as these higher costs will inevitably be passed on to consumers. So too will the carbon tax levy on diesel. At $210 a tonne the fuel that drives all modes of commercial transportation will rise between 59 and 65 cents a litre under Ecofiscal’s estimation.

In driving up energy costs to achieve artificial targets through unaffordable carbon taxes, emissions regulations and even the proposed Clean Fuel Standards regime, Canadians are about to see energy affordability sacrificed and with it our enviable standard of living.