Cariboo North MLA Bob Simpson has introduced a private members bill to repeal legislation around the provincial government's carbon credit scheme as part of his ongoing campaign to give public agencies a fairer shake.
Simpson readily admits the bill likely will not get very far - it's been passed onto a committee that never meets and will probably die on the order paper - but believes the move will at least keep the issue on the provincial government's radar.
"What you use them for is to try and get people to pay attention," said Simpson, an independent MLA.
As it stands, school boards, hospitals, universities and Community Living B.C., among others, must purchase carbon credits from the PCT for every tonne of greenhouse gas (GHG) they emit.
However, only private sector companies can access the PCT fund for greenhouse gas reduction projects, which Simpson says is simply not acceptable.
Public sector agencies account for only one per cent of the province's total emissions, said Simpson, and argued the the current cap and tax should be removed from the public sector and replaced with annual program funds to improve their energy efficiency.
"That way we'll get both cost savings and real GHG reductions," Simpson said.
"If the government wants to keep the PCT offset program alive, then it should tax the 30 to 40 per cent of industrial emissions that are not captured under the current carbon tax and put the money from that tax into the trust for both public- and private-sector GHG emission-reduction projects."
According to a report Northern Health has spent $578,156 on carbon offsets since the PCT was established in 2008. Likewise, School District 57 has spent $164,333, University of Northern British Columbia $142,198 and College of New Caledonia $56,408.
Simpson said talks with ministers and bureaucrats give him reason to believe the government will give the scheme a second look. He had hoped an improved version would be ready for this fall session but is now expecting something in the early spring before the fiscal year ends.
"They are all looking for a way to rejig this so it doesn't do what everybody is reacting against and that's steal money from classrooms and hospitals and give it to private companies," Simpson said.
