As extreme cold temperatures hit a large part of Canada, including the Prairie provinces, the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are ramping up their campaign against the federal carbon tax on home heating sources.
“It’s freezing in Thunder Bay and local Liberal MPs Patty Hajdu & Marcus Powlowski are making it worse,” Mr. Poilievre
posted on social media on Jan. 12.
“They voted to quadruple the carbon tax on gas, heating, and groceries. Making you pay more,” he wrote. “Conservatives will take the tax off to keep the heat on.”
In another social media
message from Jan. 12, Mr. Poilievre posted a picture of a billboard in Thunder Bay showing an image of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the words “Hike the carbon tax” beside an image of Mr. Poilievre and the words “Axe the carbon tax.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also employed social media to criticize renewable energy sources, alongside a warning that the provincial grid system was “under stress.”
“Warning: the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) has issued a grid alert for Alberta. Right now, wind is generating almost no power,” Ms. Smith
wrote on Jan. 12.
“When renewables are unreliable, as they are now, natural gas plants must increase capacity to keep Albertans warm and safe. Please stay safe.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe posted an image of cold temperatures across Canada on the evening of Jan. 12 and reminded Canadians of the pause Mr. Trudeau placed on the carbon tax for home heating oil—a move that largely benefits Atlantic Canada, where about
30 percent of homes rely on the oil as a heating source, according to Natural Resources Canada.
“Here’s what temperatures are going to be like across Canada tonight,” Mr. Moe said in the post.
“Remember on this cold winter’s night how Trudeau provided a carbon tax break on home heating oil, mainly for Atlantic Canada, but did nothing for all the other Canadians who will be using other heat sources to keep their homes and families safe and warm tonight.”
Mr. Trudeau’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault previously said he’s been working with Alberta on “clean electricity” options.
“Over the past several months, the federal government has been engaging in good faith with the Alberta government on clean electricity investments and draft regulations, very much including through the Canada-Alberta working group,” Mr. Guilbeault and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said in a
statement on Nov. 27.
The ministers also said that “building a clean electricity grid” would provide a “massive economic opportunity” for Alberta.
Mr. Guilbeault has said that the carbon tax was implemented to avoid natural disasters caused by climate change.
“When we talk about the cost of measures to address climate change, we have to realize that Canadians are paying a very high price tag for the impacts of climate change,” he
said on Sept. 13.
Mr. Guilbeault said climate change is costing Canadians “tens of billions of dollars” and that there’s no “bumper sticker solution” to the issue. “We know that carbon pricing is one of the best ways to fight climate change.”
Mr. Trudeau’s government has said that having the carbon tax will encourage consumers and businesses to reduce their carbon use and, in turn, help reduce climate change and natural disasters.
Premiers’ Call
The premiers of several provinces have joined together to call on the federal government to pause the carbon tax on all forms of home heating.On Nov. 10, 2023, the
premiers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta sent a joint letter to the federal government calling for “fair and equitable” treatment and asking Mr. Trudeau to remove the tax from all forms of home heating.
“By singling out Atlantic Canadians with this relief [on home heating oil], it has caused divisions across the country,” the premiers wrote.
“We are calling on the federal government to do the right thing and treat all Canadians fairly by removing the federal carbon tax from all forms of home heating. This would help address the significant affordability concerns faced by families from coast to coast to coast,” said their
letter posted on social media.
Mr. Trudeau had previously
said there would be no further carve-outs of the carbon tax.
“There will absolutely not be any other carve-outs or suspensions of the price on pollution,” he told reporters on Oct. 31. “This is designed to phase out heating oil.”
On Nov. 6, 2023, Mr. Poilievre put forward a motion that would pause the federal carbon tax on all forms of home heating, but it was
defeated by the Liberals, despite NDP support for the motion.
Mr. Moe has previously said that his government will not be collecting the carbon tax from Saskatchewan residents starting Jan. 1, 2024.
“Saskatchewan families can say so long to paying the carbon tax on home heating beginning on Monday,” Mr. Moe said in a Dec. 30, 2023,
post on X.
In the new year, both provincial Crown corporations SaskEnergy and SaskPower will no longer be collecting the federal carbon tax on home heating bills, a Dec. 28, 2023, government
news release said.
Administration of the carbon tax has cost Ottawa nearly $200 million.
Records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show that taxpayers
paid $82.6 million for the program in 2022, including salaries for 465 full-time employees. Between
2019 and 2021, those costs were $116.5 million.
Noé Chartier, Isaac Teo, and Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.
