Saskatchewan becomes first fully carbon tax-free province
Premier Scott Moe announced that his province is now the first in Canada to eliminate both the consumer and industrial portions of the carbon tax, making Saskatchewan fully carbon tax-free.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced that his province is now the first in Canada to eliminate both the consumer and industrial portions of the carbon tax, making Saskatchewan fully carbon tax-free.
Moe explained that Saskatchewan is getting ahead of the curve by reducing the industrial carbon tax to zero, as both the federal Conservatives and Liberals announced plans to ditch the levy.
“The immediate effect is the removal of the carbon tax on your Sask Power bills, saving Saskatchewan families and small businesses hundreds of dollars a year. And in the longer term, it will reduce the cost of other consumer products that have the industrial carbon tax built right into their price,” said Moe.
He added that the removal would boost industry and create jobs in the face of tariffs from the United States and China.
“I would hope that all of the parties running in the federal election would agree with those objectives and allow the provinces to regulate in this area without imposing the federal backstop,” said Moe.
While Liberal Leader Mark Carney claimed he “cancelled” the consumer portion of the carbon tax, a carbon pricing scheme law remains on the books. The federal carbon tax law, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, can only be removed by a majority vote in Parliament.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation applauded Moe’s decision in a statement.
“This move is a no-brainer to save taxpayers money and protect jobs,” said the federation’s Prairie director, Gage Haubrich.
The federation also criticized Carney’s shifting stance, pointing to his comments about “improving and tightening” the industrial carbon tax.
Conversely, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he would scrap the industrial carbon tax. He said he would eliminate the carbon tax law and end the provincial backstops altogether.
A Leger poll showed that 70 per cent of Canadians believe businesses pass most or some of the industrial carbon tax onto consumers.
While Carney originally claimed that the industrial portion would only affect big polluters, he later backtracked on those comments and admitted that the cost would be passed onto Canadian consumers.
This isn’t the only time Carney backtracked on his statements or made corrections.
He also delivered contradictory remarks on his stance on an oil and gas emissions cap, just one day apart and came under fire for telling English- and French-speaking audiences conflicting stories about the future of pipelines in Canada.
Carney is no friend of the west. Premier Moe looks after his people and Premier Smith is on the same track. The west will not see any positive outcomes from a carney government so the time has come to take matters into your own hands. Provinces need to be out for themselves now more than ever. Canadians across Canada must see this and decide do they want the old regime and a broken country or do they want a country of equal rights?
Scott Moe has some balls. He should make it law, no more carbon tax. Any one who would vote lieberal has to be a total idiot.