GOLDSTEIN: Libs attack Parliamentary Budget Officer for telling the truth

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Every time Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux points out that Canadians will incur costs as a result of the Trudeau government’s climate protection plan, Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, along with other Liberals, bursts out.

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His latest uproar stems from Giroux’s report on the cost of government clean fuel regulations, released on Friday.

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Guilbeault called it “unbalanced,” which is odd as Giroux’s report says many of the same things Guilbeault’s ministry said in its June 2022 impact assessment of the regulations.

They come into force in July and aim to reduce the CO2 intensity of petrol and diesel.

Giroux’s main conclusion is that the CFR is regressive because the costs that lower-income families face represent a larger percentage of their disposable income than higher-income households.

This is what Guilbeault’s ministry said in its analysis of the CFR last year:

“Low-income households could be disproportionately affected by the regulations as they may face higher transport costs relative to their income. Additionally, low-income households tend to have a reduced ability to absorb higher fuel costs compared to high-income households.”

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According to the report, single mothers and seniors with a fixed income would be particularly affected.

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Giroux said the CFR will increase the cost of gasoline by up to 17 cents a liter and the cost of diesel fuel by up to 16 cents a liter in 2030 – which he says are high-end estimates based on based on Guilbeault’s Ministry models.

Giroux said the CFR will cut Canada’s GDP by up to 0.3%, or $9 billion, in 2030, with economic impacts varying by province, just as Guilbeault’s ministry said last year.

Giroux says the CFR is expected to cut Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 26 million tons a year by 2030, in line with Guilbeault’s ministry.

Guilbeault criticized Giroux for failing to “recognize the costs of climate change to Canadians, such as extreme weather.”

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However, there will be no savings for Canadians from reducing Canada’s emissions from milder weather — and certainly not until 2030 — because, as Giroux noted, “Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to significantly affect climate change, and reducing them would therefore not have a significant impact.” the Canadian economy… Canada’s primary means of limiting the economic costs of climate change is through participation in a globally coordinated emissions reduction scheme.”

On this point, Guilbeault’s ministry said the same thing a year ago, stating: “The only way to fight climate change effectively is to act globally.”

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Guilbeault complained that Giroux failed to consider the potential cost savings for Canadians from future technological improvements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But expecting significant savings from technologies not yet invented by 2030 is a fantasy, and as Giroux noted, it is unforeseeable that “numerous technological changes in the past have transformed economies — and societies — because they have been so.” much cheaper than their predecessors”.

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Giroux’s estimate of a $231 cost increase in 2030 for lower-income families from the CFR is not far from the Department’s impact analysis by Guilbeault, which said the cost per household in 2030 would be between $132 and $132 at a central estimate and $301 would range from $220.

Guilbeault seems most upset by Giroux’s estimate that higher-income households face a $1,008 cost.

An independent, impartial observer of government spending responded as Giroux National Post: “I can understand that people are not happy when we emphasize that government action will have an impact and in this case a cost, but I stand by the analysis that we have presented.”