Why Northern Ontario needs the carbon tax.

• Author: Robinson, Dave

Northern Ontario lives by harvesting wood. Wood is roughly 50% carbon, so the northern economy is built on harvesting carbon. The contribution to carbon sequestration puts Northern Ontario on the front line in the fight against climate change.

In 2006 Ontario's sawmills supplied 1,842,136,700 kg. of sequestered carbon. At current prices this represents twenty-eight million dollars worth of climate protection. If we believe Jerry Rubin, the chief economist at CIBC, carbon prices will have to at least double. By 2010 northern sawmills will be underpaid by over fifty million dollars a year. They won't get the money because Canada has an anti-forestry climate-change policy.

Canada is the world's leading exporter of forests products. You would think that the world's biggest commercial carbon sequestration operation would fight to have its contributions recognized. The default system under the Kyoto Protocol only counts newly planted forests, but there is provision for counting wood products. Because the Canadian government has not developed a credible accounting system, by 2010 we will be leaving over a billion dollars worth of carbon credits a year on the table. That billion dollars could be flowing to the communities that take care of Canada's forests.

Once we can account for wood products, the simplest and most sensible strategy would be to introduce a SYMMETRIC carbon tax for Canada as a whole. It has to be symmetric, because economics tells us we should reward collecting carbon just as clearly as we charge for emitting carbon.

Why are the conservatives ignoring this opportunity? After all, Mr Harper did promised a "Made In Canada" climate change policy. Do they think other governments will pay to develop an accounting system to tell them how much they owe us?

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A much more convincing explanation is that Mr Harper is afraid to antagonize Alberta and the oil industry. Neither Alberta nor the oil companies want to pay for their carbon emissions. Harper probably asked himself "Who would I rather tangle with--Exon or White River?" Remember, Exon has a high-powered staff of eXonomists, lawyers, media specialists, and lobbyists. White River's high-powered team is mainly Marilyn Parent-Lethbridge.

But poor Mr Harper is caught between the rock of science and his hard political promises. He came to power committed to rolling back Canada's Kyoto commitments. He sent Rona Ambrose out to unwind the Liberal's slowly growing program...