New taxes will drastically raise the costs of living on hardworking families and disproportionately hurt rural and northern communities
The Prime Minister of Canada has announced that the Federal Government will unilaterally impose a “floor price” on carbon pollution across the country, in spite of the warnings by Members of Parliament and many provinces that it will cripple their local economies.
This measure amounts to a massive new tax on families which will add 11.5 cents per litre of gasoline. It will disproportionately impact Canadians living in rural and northern regions of the country and have a devastating impact on those living on a fixed income. This includes seniors, who will have no way to adjust to the drastic increases in cost to their heating, electricity, gasoline and food.
“In Alberta, with 200,000 workers without a job, this new tax is making a bad situation much worse. Now is not the time for new taxes on struggling Alberta families, small businesses and employers,” said Chris Warkentin, Member of Parliament for Grande Prairie – Mackenzie.
A number of provinces have signaled their strong opposition to the Liberal tax. Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan, has said, “the level of disrespect shown by the Prime Minister and his government today is stunning… this new tax will damage our economy.” Even the Government of Alberta has insisted that the measures go too far.
Warkentin has demanded that the Prime Minister roll back this carbon tax plan, a plan that will devastate the energy sector, farm families and those families and seniors doing all they can to make ends meet.
“Now is not the time for a punishing new tax on Peace Country families who are already having a tough time getting by,” Warkentin said. “This tax grab is devastating for working people, low income people, the most vulnerable and seniors on fixed incomes. It will hurt every major industry in our region and will result in job losses. We have already suffered enough.”
“What Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has personally proposed this week will cost each family in the Peace Country thousands of dollars more each year. I will oppose it because struggling families can’t afford it,” stated Warkentin.
“Imposing a punishing new tax while holding back approval on job-creating pipeline projects shows how misplaced this government’s priorities are when it comes to jobs and economic growth,” Warkentin added. “This is devastating for the Peace Country, it is devastating for Alberta, and is a harsh blow for our entire country.”
The Prime Minister has threatened provinces that failure to implement his system by 2018 will result in the Liberals forcing these taxes on that jurisdiction.
Quick Facts:
- The carbon price will begin at $10 a tonne in 2018, rising to $50 a tonne by 2022.
- This will be a $20 a tonne increase on the provincial carbon tax already introduced by the province of Alberta.
- In a recent poll taken before the federal announcement, almost 65% of Albertans were opposed to the existing provincial carbon tax.