Scrap the carbon tax, chamber urges

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The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce is calling on the provincial government to scrap its controversial carbon tax, arguing that the levy will impact Fraser Valley businesses more than most.

In a letter written by Chamber president Alvin Epp to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, the organization argues that the carbon tax will cost the province’s agriculture industry between $9 million and $13 million in its first year.

Because such a large chunk of B.C.’s farm business is based in the Fraser Valley, Epp believes the carbon tax will be a particular headache in Abbotsford.

“The Abbotsford business community will be especially hard hit as our farmers are expected to absorb these increases in many cases, as they are not able to pass them along in the supply chain,” Epp wrote in the letter.

Epp said the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce considers the carbon tax to be a tax on “fossil-based fuels” rather than a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.

As a result, Epp said the tax is not being levied on businesses that release large levels of carbon dioxide, “but on those that consume fossil-based fuels.”

“The business community in Abbotsford has experienced a rise in the cost of carbon-based energy, over and above market pricing, as a result of the initiative,” he wrote.

“The costs will either be absorbed by the business, resulting in lower profitability, or will be passed onto the consumers.”

The carbon tax is “not applied universally,” Epp continued, and provides for a “wide range of exemptions” from industries that release high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce is convinced that, in its current form, the carbon tax will not reduce energy consumption or emissions,” Epp said.

While Epp recognized the carbon tax may have come from a “strong sense of desire to do right by the environment,” he said the Abbotsford Chamber believes its practical application will have little impact

“The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce encourages the Province of B.C. to, at a minimum, suspend any further escalations in the carbon tax rates and preferably repeal legislation and rescind the tax in its entirety,” he concluded.

The letter was sent to the premier’s office this week, while a copy was also forwarded to MLAs in Abbotsford and Mission.