Roger Melanson is 'open' to a New Brunswick carbon tax

Finance Minister Roger Melanson says he’s open to the idea of a carbon tax as a move to help reduce the province’s deficit.

The carbon tax, a levy on large emitters of carbon dioxide, was proposed by Green Party Leader David Coon.

Melanson said he’s willing to consider the tax.

“We need to get expenditures under control, but we also said on the revenue side, we're open to looking at different options for revenues,” he said.

“We're not saying we're going to bring in a carbon tax, but we're saying everything's on the table other than duality and bilingualism programs."

The finance minister has not said when he will table his first budget or whether any new taxes will be included in it.

Melanson has also introduced a bill that would allow the provincial government to increase the HST or add new taxes without holding a referendum.

This wouldn’t be the first time the New Brunswick government has considered a carbon tax.

In 2008, then finance minister Victor Boudreau was considering a series of tax reforms.

At the time, Boudreau said the carbon tax could raise roughly $100 million in additional revenue. The former Liberal government ended up ditching the idea of a carbon tax.

Boudreau, who is now the minister responsible for the strategic program review, is looking for $600 million in cuts and new revenue sources to tackle the province’s structural deficit.