Expert: Canada’s carbon tax to increase on April 1 

With the federal government under pressure to freeze its planned increase to the carbon tax, policy experts are calling for a clear-eyed debate over the legislation and its role in the country's climate goals. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, along with seven premiers, have called for the scheduled April 1 hike to be scrapped, saying it will only make inflation worse. (CBC News)  

Here is an expert from McGill University who can provide comment on this issue: 

Christopher Ragan, Associate Professor and Director, Max Bell School of Public Policy  

“A well-designed carbon price, or tax, is almost certainly the lowest-cost way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, its visibility makes it a political challenge to implement, as we have been witnessing in Canada over the past few months. The challenge for governments is to communicate more clearly how this policy works and why it is so much better than the alternatives, despite the heated political rhetoric surrounding it.”  

Christopher Ragan is an Associate Professor and Director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy. His areas of expertise include carbon pricing, macroeconomics, inflation, and fiscal policy.  

christopher.ragan [at] mcgill.ca (English)