Climate Action Incentive quarterly payments on horizon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/07/2022 (1218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans are set to receive their first payment under the federal Climate Action Incentive’s new distribution model.

The program, based in the Prairie provinces and Ontario, was put in place by the Liberal government in 2019, and made available to families to offset the cost of the federal pricing system, which charges provinces per tonne of carbon pollution they create and results in a regulatory charge on gasoline and other fossil fuels.

The Canadian government uses approximately 90 per cent of funds from those fuel charges for the Climate Action Incentive payments, which were originally provided as part of annual tax returns for families. Payments will now be provided quarterly, with qualifying families receiving both the first and second quarterly payments for the year July 15. After that, the payment will be made every three months.

Manitoba Liberal MPs Jim Carr and Terry Duguid announced the new payment method Tuesday morning, saying it “puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 families here in Manitoba.”

“We’re seeing increasing floods, droughts, extreme weather, and we’ve never seen this kind of trending before, and so our government has stepped up and we can see what this means to families today and for their future,” Duguid said. “Through the Climate Action Incentive payment, we have been able to return the proceeds of pollution pricing directly to families in Manitoba.”

Families in rural and small communities are eligible for an extra 10 per cent, with the average family of four in Manitoba set to receive around $832 in total in 2022.

The federal system of setting a carbon tax and then providing a rebate has been criticized by the federal Conservatives, instead calling for Canadians to pay a levy whenever they purchase carbon-based fuel (such as gasoline), which would then go to a personal saving account the spender could use for environmentally-friendly purchases.

However, Duguid said the rebate option results in more money in people’s pockets at the end of the year, and homes that choose to make energy-efficient changes (driving electric vehicles or home upgrades, etc.) will pay even less.

“Many Conservative politicians would like you to believe pricing pollution is a net negative for families or that we can’t afford to protect our environment while supporting our economy, and that’s just not true,” he said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca