Budget Watchdog Releases Government Letter on Non-Disclosure of Carbon Pricing Data

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux waits to appear before the Senate Committee on National Finance, in Ottawa on Oct. 17, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The federal budget watchdog has publicly shared a letter it received from Environment Canada requesting government data provided on the economic impacts of carbon pricing not be made public.

“The data the Department is providing contains unpublished information,” says the May 14 letter. “As such, I request you to ensure that this information is used for your office’s internal purposes only and is not published or further distributed.”

Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux this week told a House of Commons committee about the letter while being questioned by Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull.

Mr. Turnbull has criticized the PBO for an error made in its analysis of the fuel charge, or carbon tax, which overestimated its economic impacts.

The PBO had included the industrial pricing system in the equation, an error it acknowledged in mid-April.

Mr. Giroux has said that a new analysis with proper data, expected for the fall, will likely not change the initial conclusion. The PBO says that when accounting for the economic impacts of the carbon tax, a majority of Canadians are worse-off financially.

Mr. Turnbull questioned Mr. Giroux on this assertion during the committee hearing. “How could you prejudice the findings of a future report that you haven’t run the analysis on?” he asked.

Mr. Giroux said his opinion is based on a number of factors and noted having seen Environment Canada’s analysis of the carbon pricing’s economic impact.

“We’ve seen that, staff in my office, but we’ve been told explicitly not to disclose it and reference it,” he said.

When asked by an MP to explain what it says, Mr. Giroux said the letter “confirms the report that we have published, essentially. So that’s why I’m comfortable with what we have already published.”

The May 14 letter from Environment Canada was sent in response to a request for information from the PBO in late April.

The letter came accompanied with attachments, with one related to the impact of carbon pricing on gross domestic product from 2022 to 2030, and another on the economic impacts on different sectors of the economy over the same period.

Carbon pricing is composed of the fuel charge (or carbon tax) and the industrial pricing system for large emitters, called the output-based pricing system.

The federal fuel charge is currently set at $80 per tonne and is set to increase to $170 per tonne in 2030. This currently adds more than 17 cents to a litre of gasoline and it will reach more than 37 cents in 2030.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told a House committee on May 21 his department estimates carbon pricing contributed to reducing emissions by 19 megatons in 2022, out of 708 megatons total emissions.

“Overall, the data shows that the carbon price continues to work in achieving incremental additional carbon reductions,” a spokesperson from his department told The Epoch Times.

The issue of the carbon tax has become highly politicized. Conservatives have made “axing the tax” a key slogan and part of the party’s platform to address the high cost of living.

The Liberal government maintains that having a price on pollution is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the government to lift the “gag order” on the PBO during question period on June 5, so that he can release Environment Canada’s analysis of the carbon price’s impact.

“They don’t want Canadians to know the true costs of the carbon tax,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland responded that “the person who seems to be labouring under a gag order is the Conservative leader” which “seems to prevent him from saying anything positive about our amazing country.”