(Toronto) The Ontario government plans to temporarily reduce gasoline and diesel taxes to mitigate the impacts of the oil shock, but this measure will not take effect until after the June provincial election.
Posted at 3:35 p.m.
The Progressive Conservative government on Monday tabled legislation that, if passed, would reduce gas tax by 5.7 cents per liter for a period of six months, beginning on 1er July. Fuel tax, which includes diesel, would be reduced by 5.3 cents per litre.
This announcement comes at a time of soaring prices at the pump across Canada. Average prices in Ontario are currently hovering around $1.70 per litre.
“The people of Ontario and across the country are being ripped off, day in and day out,” Premier Doug Ford said Monday in a separate announcement in Oshawa.
We see gasoline prices skyrocketing, we see unprecedented prices. And it’s time the government started putting money back into people’s pockets instead of the government’s pocket.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford
Ford promised such a provincial gas tax cut nearly four years ago during the 2018 election campaign.
One of the Progressive Conservatives’ key promises at the time was to cut gas prices by 10 cents a litre. The party argued at the time that this reduction would be achieved by taking Ontario out of the cap-and-trade system (“carbon market”) and reducing the provincial gas tax.
Shortly after the 2018 election, the Ford government effectively pulled Ontario out of the carbon market, which the previous Liberal government had signed on to. This withdrawal was supposed to reduce prices at the pump by 4.3 cents per liter, but it caused the entry into force of the federal carbon tax, canceling out the expected savings. The Ford government then unsuccessfully tried to challenge this federal tax in court, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Last fall, Mr. Ford assured that he would keep his 2018 promise to implement the remaining reduction of 5.7 cents per liter before the tabling of an upcoming budget. But he backtracked soon after, saying he would implement such a reduction provided the federal government did the same.
Mr. Ford said Monday that last fall was “not the right time” for him to announce a reduction in fuel prices. “Gasoline prices weren’t where they are right now,” he explained. He added that he still encourages Ottawa to announce federal tax cuts.
New Democrats in Ontario are calling for gas price regulation and have introduced a private member’s bill – the third. Energy Minister Todd Smith cited studies from the Ontario Energy Board that suggest these regulations won’t actually lower prices at the pump.