Trudeau drops carbon tax on heating oil, increases rebate for Atlantic Canadians
Episode Stats
Summary
Learn English with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. Justin Trudeau announces a three-year pause on the federal pollution price on heating oil, and introduces a new program to encourage people in Atlantic Canada to switch to electric heat pumps.
Transcript
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Let me first talk a bit about the price on pollution. Economists and experts around the
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world have long known that putting a price on carbon emissions is the best way to drive
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down those emissions that cause climate change. It's the cheapest, most efficient and most
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impactful way and it's working. We are bending the curve leading the G7 countries because of our
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price on pollution. Now we designed that price on pollution so that it incentivizes people to choose
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less polluting ways to live and work and it puts money back in the pockets of 8 out of 10 households
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where the federal system applies. So it both drives behavior and puts more money back in the pockets
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of 8 out of 10 households across the country. So it supports people to make better choices and puts
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money back in their pockets. However, we've heard clearly from Atlantic Canadians through our amazing
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Atlantic MPs that since the federal pollution price came into force this summer replacing provincial
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systems, certain features of that pollution price needed to be adjusted to work for everyone.
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Specifically, as Cody said, many people in Atlantic Canada and in rural communities across the country
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rely on home heating oil. To be blunt, the price signal on heating oil is not resulting in enough
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people being able to switch to electric heat pumps despite people wanting to move to these cleaner
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home heating options. Well, as a government that is focused on evidence and data and outcomes and that is
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listening to Canadians, we heard you. We heard our Atlantic MPs and we heard Atlantic Canadians. We heard it
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through conversations at the door, conversations with other orders of government, concerns even as people
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were concerned about the need to continue to fight climate change, concerns about our abilities to
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continue to support our families and make it through winters, and concerns that even though people wanted to
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do the right thing, they weren't necessarily given the option or the ability to do it. So this team behind me
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worked incredibly hard with our ministers, with our whole team to get it right, to make sure that we are still
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leading in the fight against climate change, that we are unwavering in our commitment to protect Atlantic
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Canadians and indeed all Canadians from the extreme weather events that are increasingly the norm,
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while ensuring that people can be confident about their present and their future financially.
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Now, Cody talked about how all Atlantic Canadians understand as well as anyone else in the country,
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why we need to fight climate change and what the impacts of extreme weather are on people. But we have to
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make sure we're fighting climate change in ways that support all Canadians. That has been at the center
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of our choices as a government for the past eight years. Fight climate change while supporting Canadians in
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how we do it. So that is why today we are announcing a three-year pause on the federal pollution price on heating
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oil so that we can give everyone the time and ability to switch to heat pumps.
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Now, switching to an electric heat pump from oil heating, which is very vulnerable to volatile global
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market prices, can save people a lot of money. In fact, it can mean as much as thousands of dollars a
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year less spent on energy bills. So the second part of our announcement today is that,
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piloting in the Atlantic, we're working with provinces to install a free heat pump for people who are
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And to encourage people to sign up for the change, we're providing a $250 incentive payment.
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And for everyone else, we've got an enhanced program that will deliver heat pumps up front to be paid
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off with the savings you'll be getting over the coming years. We are switching to heat pumps off home
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heating oil as a region in Atlantic Canada and as a country.
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And one more thing. Today, we are doubling from 10 to 20 percent the rural top-up that people get as
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part of their quarterly pollution price rebates. Because if you live in a rural community, you don't have
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the same options that people who live in cities do. We get that. So this is more money in your pocket to
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recognize those realities even as we continue to fight climate change and build a stronger economy.
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The announcement today covers a series of measures that include doubling the
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supplement for residents of rural regions in the case of the trimestries for the tarification of pollution.
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It will also allow more people to opt for a thermal pump that will make them
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This package has a lot of big pieces that will make a real difference.
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And it can be tough in different ways, depending on whether you live in the Atlantic or in rural Ontario or in a big city like Montreal or Calgary.
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By investing in you, by putting more money in your pocket and by finding the right solutions that not only make life more affordable, but keep a strong, healthy future for everyone.
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Je suis content maintenant de prendre vos questions.