This is an inaccurate portrayal of my work. My numbers were produced for the Senate in April 2017, and reproduced on @policy_school blog in May 2017. The Govt of Canada discussion paper on carbon pricing was released in May 2017 (see: canada.ca/en/services/en…).
My committee testimony and analysis happened *before* details of the federal benchmark and backstop were announced. I did not calculate the costs of the 'Trudeau Carbon Price' - I calculated the costs of a broad, economy-wide carbon tax at various price levels. Very different!!
Furthermore, I am very clear about my assumptions and the limitations of my approach, and have additional methodological details in a subsequent blog post: policyschool.ca/calculating-ca….
Importantly, I assume no behavioural change on the part of households, no energy efficiency improvements, and do not include how policy support to large emitters affect costs. I also don't include rebates which mitigate costs further. And I use 2013 energy use data.
My numbers are essentially a high-water mark. They say what a carbon price *could* cost Canadian households, not what current policy proposals *will* cost Canadian households. I hope to produce more accurate numbers in the future - but I have papers to write!
I appreciate that my numbers are being used, and I really wish people would take the time to understand what they mean (some do, but all too many don't). /fin
