By Jason Scott, Ottawa Citizen, October 2, 2016
In one easy step, the federal government can introduce a carbon tax on vehicle fuels across Canada, bringing all provinces and territories in line with British Columbia. In fact, it could do worse than to simply apply B.C.’s carbon tax rates by fuel across the country, then commit to annual increases of one penny a litre. Will it solve climate change? No, but it would be a good start: it would be equitable among provinces, be politically palatable and demonstrate leadership to match the talk in Paris and over the last year. Let me explain.
The federal government charges an excise tax on gasoline at a flat rate of 10 cents a litre. This has been in effect since 1995. Accounting for inflation, it should be almost 14.7 cents per litre (c/L). The Ontario provincial government has been similarly reticent to raise gasoline taxes, which have been fixed at 14.7 c/L since 1992. Had this tax kept pace with inflation, it would be almost 22.5 c/L by now.
http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/scott-heres-a-simple-way-to-bring-in-that-carbon-tax-mr-trudeau