A carbon tax is the most important policy tool to help Canada meet its greenhouse-gas reduction goals, says a federal advisory panel.
The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, an independent agency created by Parliament in 1988, also suggested a carbon-trading system to cut Canada's emissions 65 per cent below 2006 levels by 2050.
The panel's membership consists of Canada's top business and environmental leaders. Its recommendations are not binding on the government.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rejected the notion of a carbon tax in the past, as has Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.
In the spring, the minority Conservative government tabled a plan to cut the emissions of industrial emitters. That plan, which set a target of a 20 per cent cut in GHG emissions below 2006 levels by 2020, did not include a carbon tax.
"(The report) is not an evaluation or assessment in any way of the government's current plan. That was not our purpose," NRTEE chair Glen Murray told an Ottawa news conference on Monday.
"What it offers instead is a framework for a transition from current approaches to a longer-term vision to achieve deep greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions reductions based on targets now set by the government of Canada."
Murray said meeting the government's medium and long-term reduction goals is feasible using "current and near-term technologies at a manageable cost to our economy in the long run."
A market-based approach such as a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system is the most effective approach, he said.
Murray warned that delaying action would push up future costs because of the cumulative effect of greenhouse gas emissions.
Delay would also bring "the very real risk of not achieving our targets at all," he said.
David McLaughlin, the NRTEE's chief executive, noted that fighting climate change is a global problem, which means Canada must work in concert with the world.
To help Canada meet its goals, business needs to certainty from the government, he said.
While the round table recommends a carbon tax, it didn't recommend an actual price.
"Rather, our results provide insight into what the potential price could be under different scenarios," he said.
For example, participation in international carbon trading could lower the price, he said.
While the government has warned about the economic consequences of making steep cuts in emissions, McLaughlin said in the long term, the cost of acting is manageable.
He suggested a loss of one to two years of annual growth by 2050, but also said there would be annual fluctuations.
Provinces with higher emissions could take more of an economic hit, McLaughlin said.
Robert Fife, CTV's Ottawa bureau chief, told Newsnet that Alberta, Canada's carbon energy leader, could be particularly hit hard by a carbon tax -- and that the western province is the political base of the federal Conservatives.
Gov't response
In a 300-word response, Environment Minister John Baird praised the roundtable's efforts, focusing on its call for long-term policy certainty, improved technology development and a united global response.
Later in the day, he insisted the government's environment plan also puts a price on carbon. "We're regulating mandatory reductions for all the big polluters in the country,'' he told reporters on Parliament Hill.
But on the issue of a new carbon tax, Baird called it a "Liberal idea."
"We believe we can regulate reductions in greenhouse gases," he added. "We regulated lead out of gasoline. We think this is a similar approach.''
Activists happy
Meanwhile, climate activists were quick to praise the panel's report and to call on the federal government to act.
"Today's report shows that Canada urgently needs either a real cap or a tax on GHG pollution," the Pembina Institute's Clare Demerse said in a news release.
"So far, the government has completely failed to commit to an adequate price on emissions. As the NRTEE points out, we're also still waiting for a comprehensive, Canada-wide plan to cut emissions."
Graham Saul of the Climate Action Network Canada said the report shows that delays in action will raise both economic and environmental costs.
"There is no longer any real debate among the experts about the actions we need to take. The only question is why the government isn't listening," he said in the release.
Julia Langer of World Wildlife Fund-Canada said the government has had the report for months.
"Further delay in constraining global warming emissions condemns both the economy and the environment to serious impacts," she said.
