B.C. Premier David Eby says that British Columbia will eliminate the carbon tax entirely. 

He made the announcement Friday (March 14) in Surrey at Simon Fraser University, where he and B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey had participated in a town hall.

Eby had previously said that B.C. would eliminate the consumer portion of the carbon tax if Ottawa were to drop the federal requirement, having campaigned on it during the last provincial election. 

Eby's announcement comes just hours after federal Liberal Leader Mark Carney became Canada's new Prime Minister. Carney's cabinet soon thereafter issued an order-in-council repealing the requirement for the tax.

Ottawa's decision ends B.C.'s pioneering carbon tax first introduced in 2010. Government's official statement announcing the change recognized this history, but offered few additional details in framing its elimination as a response to political realities. 

"The carbon tax has been an important tool in British Columbia," Eby said in the statement. "For over a decade and a half, a price on pollution has been an effective part of our efforts to tackle climate change. However, with cost-of-living pressures facing households and the imminent removal of federal carbon pricing, there is no longer support for the measure."

Government's budget tabled earlier this month forecasts that the carbon tax would contribute about $3 billion to the provincial budget with some of the money going back to British Columbians in form of credit, with some of the money funding various CleanBC projects. 

When asked about the impact of this decision on the provincial budget with a projected deficit of almost $11 billion, Eby told reporters that Bailey's finance ministry is currently working on ways to fit this commitment within the budget without providing details. The current budget includes a contingency of $4 billion. 

Eby also acknowledged that the decision to eliminate the carbon tax means that many families won't be receiving credits previously funded through the carbon tax. But he also pointed to the price pressures facing many families in the face of American tariffs and the low Canadian dollar.

"This (elimination of the carbon tax) will support them with that," he said. 

Eby also announced that British Columbians won't pay an increase in the carbon tax scheduled for April 1. The carbon tax is scheduled to increase to $95 per tonne from $80 per tonne on April 1. 

"Right now, we are working on the law," he said earlier during the townhall. 

Both announcements, however, raised questions about legislative logistics, as the legislature won't be sitting until March 31 after rising for spring break Thursday. 

When asked whether the tax will be in place for a few days in April until the passage of legislation to eliminate the tax, Eby told reporters that government has made preparations. 

"The legislation avoiding the April 1 increase will be in place to ensure that," he said. "We will introduce the legislation to eliminate the carbon tax in British Columbia and we will work with the federal government on the timing of their measures. Obviously, this happened this afternoon and we got some work to do with them on their (Ottawa's) timing to make sure we are all in line. But we will make our commitments first." 

Eby later ruled out recalling the legislature early. "No, we won't be calling the (legislature) back early, but we will be working with the federal government and we are preparing legislation to eliminate the carbon tax in B.C."

He said during the town hall that B.C. would continue to make big polluters pay. "(It's) not because we want to tax these industries," he said. "It's because we want them to adopt the technologies to reduce the carbon pollution that's changing our atmosphere, that's causing forest fires and we have had good success." 

He added that this would happen through the output-based pricing, which charges different industries different rates based on their capacities to reduce their emissions. 

B.C. Green Jeremy Valeriote, MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky and party interim leader, said in a statement the government's decision to end the carbon tax and connected rebates leaves many questions unanswered.

"The province had budgeted billions in carbon tax revenue over the coming years," he said in a statement. "If this revenue source is eliminated, what is the plan to make up the shortfall? What programs or services will be cut to fill the gap?"

He also raised questions about plans to address affordability and cut emissions. "(How) will they support lower-income British Columbians who were counting on the next rebates in April and then again in July?" he asked. 

He said his party has consistently advocated for carbon pricing that treats consumers and industry equally.

"Now is the time to fix that imbalance, not abandon climate action altogether," he said. "If the tax is going to be cancelled, British Columbians deserve an equally effective alternative that ensures financial security while taking concrete action on climate change."

More to come.