Fraser Institute senior fellow says plan will also mean fewer jobs
Canadian workers could lose $8,000 every year if the Canadian government continues with its plan to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gasses, according to a new report.
Fraser Institute senior fellow, Ross McKitrick, says that workers will lose out from lower wages by 2050 and the economy will lose 254,00 jobs, and the federal government will miss its targets anyway.
The plan includes the carbon tax, which is unpopular with Canadian businesses, along with clean fuel standards and other regulations designed to cut emissions. But McKitrick says that the economy will end up more than 6% smaller due to the plans.
"Ottawa's emission-reduction plan will significantly hurt Canada's economy and cost workers money and jobs, but it won't achieve the target they've set because it is infeasible," said McKitrick, author of the study Canada's Path to Net Zero by 2050: Darkness at the End of the Tunnel.
The study finds that what it says are economically harmful policies will only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 70% of the government’s target, missing the aim of net zero by 2050, even with a carbon tax of $1,200 per tonne (about $2.70 per litre of gas).
"Despite political rhetoric, Ottawa's emission-reduction policies will impose enormous costs without even meeting the government's target," McKitrick said. "Especially as the US moves aggressively to unleash its energy sector, Canadian policymakers need to rethink the damage these policies will inflict on Canadians and change course."
