Environment: Quebec considers tax mocked by Legault

The Legault government plans to impose new taxes on more polluting cars, although the prime minister scoffed at the proposal during the recent election campaign.

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“With inflation, with the conditions that Quebecers are going through, do you think it’s time for taxes? Quebec Solidaire (QS) co-representative Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois was accused by François Legault a month ago. Later, a surcharge was proposed on the purchase of polluting vehicles.

But at the same time, the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ) is working on a similar proposal, referring to the call for tenders launched on Tuesday, which was contacted by our Bureau of Investigation.

The ministry’s aim is to replace fuel tax revenue, which will decline particularly due to the increase in the fleet of electric vehicles.

Two scenarios to be studied by a body commissioned by MTQ would see motorists being taxed “based on the vehicle’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions”. In other words, the more polluting the vehicle, the higher the tax (Look there)

Made fun of

Neither the tender document nor the ministry specified at what point a vehicle is considered polluting, but the hiring company had to analyze “three different tariff tables”.

For its part, QS proposed to stabilize at 210 g CO₂ New vehicles are taxed per kilometer.

Therefore, the purchase of many SUVs, and even some Toyota Camry models, was aimed at what François Legault derisively called the “Orange Tax”.

This type of incentive “is in use in many countries, especially in Europe,” the ministry’s document notes.

For example, Germany imposes an additional annual tax as soon as a car consumes more than 100 g of CO.₂ per kilometer. The Toyota Rav4, Canada’s best-selling SUV, consumes 184 g of CO₂ per kilometer.

MTQ did not specify when such taxes would come into effect. The study commissioned by Quebec remains “exploratory” and does not guarantee that these tools will actually be used.

More pollution than that

Philippe Coulard’s government rejected the idea of ​​a royalty-rebate system in Quebec in 2018, although the tool was mentioned in the 2013-2020 Action Plan on Climate Change.

“This situation is problematic and Quebec’s vehicle fleet is not energy efficient and pollutes more than it should be,” lamented the Advisory Committee on Climate Change.

Six scenarios are considered

MTQ is looking for a firm to study the following scenarios for new taxes specifically targeting motorists:

Royalty-Rebate on purchase of new vehicle

“Owners of polluting vehicles must pay a fee” while registering the vehicle for the first time. Instead, owners of electric or low-consumption cars receive purchase assistance financed by polluters.

Additional rights related to programs

This tax, also based on vehicle emissions, is levied not only on purchase but also periodically.

Kilometric contribution

A toll is levied for every kilometer traveled by a vehicle on the road network. The more kilometers an owner drives in a year, the more they pay.

Electric vehicle charging tax

Gasoline can currently be taxed on the electricity used to charge an electric vehicle.

Financing toll for new infrastructure

As with the Highway 25 and Highway 30 bridges, a toll is imposed when building new infrastructure, especially in public-private partnerships.

Transportation fees for construction projects

Municipalities can levy fees on real estate developers to help finance transportation infrastructure, especially public transit.