(Ottawa) Saskatchewan threatened Monday to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas if Ottawa refused to suspend it on all forms of heating. The leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, accuses the Liberals of creating two classes of Canadians by offering a tax break only on fuel oil, widely used in the Atlantic provinces.
“Minutes before I held a large rally in a liberal riding to eliminate the carbon tax, the Prime Minister made an about-face,” Mr. Poilievre said from the outset.
He was in Windsor, a small town in Nova Scotia, on Thursday when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the temporary suspension of the carbon tax for the delivery of heating oil this winter and the 50% increase in the subsidy to replace this fuel by a heat pump, two policies from which residents of the Atlantic provinces will be able to benefit more. Nearly 30% of households heat with oil, compared to 8% in the rest of the country, according to the information document provided by the Ministry of Finance.
Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings, who is from Newfoundland and Labrador, made no secret of it when she said on CTV on Sunday that she attributed this policy change to the caucus of the Atlantic, adding, “maybe they should elect more Liberals on the Prairies so we can have this conversation, too.”
“Apparently we will have different tax rates in different ridings depending on how people vote,” denounced the Conservative leader.
Gudie Hutchings’ statement shocked Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who accused the federal government of “creating two classes of taxpayers.” In a video published Monday on the social networker January. It is the main source of heating for Saskatchewan people in the winter.
“You heard them. The carbon tax does not serve to reduce emissions, it is a punishment for not having voted Liberal,” decried Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on X.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is urging Prime Minister Trudeau to completely eliminate the carbon tax, as the federal Conservatives are calling for.
The Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, responded during question period that the program to replace heat pumps “applies across the country” and that it will help reduce “the costs of home heating and oil heating in every province and territory while continuing to thoughtfully combat climate change.”