(Ottawa) The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, went on the offensive on Thursday, attempting to ridicule the Conservatives’ claims about the respite that would be provided by the abolition of federal taxes on gasoline this summer.
During question period in the House of Commons, Mr. Guilbeault said that an Alberta family would have to drive no less than 37,000 kilometers during their vacation to save the “$955” that the Conservative Party is promising them. from Canada.
“So you could leave Montreal, go to Mexico City, come back to Montreal, go back to Mexico City, come back to Montreal, go back to Mexico City, come back to Montreal and go back to Mexico City. Then you would still have kilometers,” he said, moving his arm from right to left each time to imitate the back and forth to the laughter of his colleagues.
Mr. Guilbeault gave numerous other examples to illustrate that, according to him, the Conservatives are offering “porridge for cats” and that “mathematics is not (their) strong point.”
Detailing his calculation, he explained that this same family would have to burn 3,293 liters of gasoline during the summer months with their vehicle which consumes 8.9 liters per 100 kilometers. This level represents the consumption of the “average Canadian vehicle”, according to data from the International Energy Agency dating from 2017.
You could start from the North Pole, go to the South Pole, and you could almost go all the way back to the North Pole.
Steven Guilbeault, federal Minister of the Environment
Seeming caught off guard, the deputy House leader of the Conservatives, Luc Berthold, whose party is leading a crusade against carbon pricing, said he did not know where the Liberals “get their figures”, suggesting that they were “inventing” them again. times, as usual.
“We know very, very well that Quebecers who pay at the pump every week will see the difference on their bill when they arrive at the end of the month. That’s reality. The Quebecois […], liberal mathematics, they understand it very, very well. It takes too much money out of their pockets,” he said.
A few minutes earlier, in an exchange with former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer who asked the Liberals to show “an ounce of compassion” so that families can afford an affordable vacation this summer, Minister Guilbeault noted that the family would have to drive “for 10 days, non-stop” to cover these 37,000 kilometers.
“You had two weeks of vacation, you would have two days, or even three, left to enjoy your vacation,” summarized Minister Guilbeault.
Two weeks ago, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre launched his campaign to demand that Ottawa suspend federal fuel taxes from National Patriots Day to Labor Day, in order to offer motorists a “summer break” of “Justin Trudeau’s inflation”.
He said at the time that this would reduce the price of gasoline by “35.6 cents per liter on average.”
However, the excise tax on gasoline is 10 cents per liter, that on carbon is 17.6 cents per liter and the GST amounts to 1.4 cents per liter, for a total of 29 cents per liter.
On those of Newfoundland and Labrador, $603 for those of Manitoba and $592 for those of Ontario.
His list ended there, but in a press release accompanying the announcement, he estimated the savings of the average Canadian family this summer at $670.
Called upon to clarify the Conservatives’ calculation method, Mr. Poilievre’s office explained to The Canadian Press that, when it comes to carbon pricing, it instead takes into account its “gross fiscal and economic cost.”
This amounts to $1,674 in Ontario for the year, we were told based on a report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer. And since the measure would cover 29% of the year, or the 105 days of the summer break mentioned, the panel considers that removing the price on pollution would allow this family to save $485.
As for the excise tax and the federal sales tax, the Conservatives claim that they total 18 cents per liter. Estimating that a family consumes on average 2050 liters of gasoline during the year, it would use 595 during the summer break, or $107.
At the beginning of April, the price of a tonne of carbon increased from $65 to $80, an increase of 3.3 cents per liter. It must increase annually by $15 per tonne to reach $170 per tonne in 2030. The measure does not apply to Quebec and British Columbia. Both provinces have their own system for imposing a price on pollution.
With information from Stéphane Blais, in Montreal