News Analysis The April 1 increase in the federal carbon tax to $40 per tonne highlights the high cost of the federal pricing scheme compared with the cost to Quebecers under their provincial cap-and-trade policy, whose current carbon price is roughly half that amount. Trevor Tombe, an economics professor at the University of Calgary, said federal allowance for the Quebec approach leaves that province with a lighter burden. “They’re able to then have a cap on emissions that declines at a certain rate, but the price that is implied by that cap is less than the current carbon tax. So in a sense, they’re not enacting as stringent a climate policy as other jurisdictions.” Tombe said the effect of Quebec’s cap-and-trade system equates to approximately $20 per tonne of carbon emissions. However, the federal carbon tax increases from $30 to $40 on April 1, making the difference more substantial. “There’s starting …