N.B. may need to revamp tax laws to pursue carbon tax

The New Brunswick government may need to revamp a provincial tax law if it decides to go forward with a proposed carbon tax.

Under the Taxpayers Protection Act, introduced by the previous Conservative government, any new tax must either be included in the government's election platform or must be sent to a provincial referendum.

This means under the current law, the carbon tax, proposed in the discussion paper on tax reform released Wednesday, would require a provincial vote.

Finance Minister Victor Boudreau told CBC News, however, that if the government decided to implement the carbon tax after public consultations, the law wouldn't stand in the way.

"If that means amending legislation to make it happen, I mean, that's something we'll have to consider when those decisions have been made," he said.

Opposition leader Jeannot Volpe, who was finance minister when the law passed, said he would oppose any attempts to weaken the law

"If they decide to move away from it, I wouldn't be surprised, but I will not be supporting it, because I believe New Brunswickers should be part of any decision that costs them money," he said.

Details have not yet been released on how the proposed tax would work, but there are suggestions it would be modeled after British Columbia's, which is based on a rate of $10 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. The charges currently amount to an extra 2.4 cents per litre of gas for anyone who drives a car or boat and corporations that transport goods or use fuel in industrial processes.