PCs to Call Resolution to Cancel Carbon Tax on Home Heating
WINNIPEG — Manitoba PCs are calling on the NDP government to immediately cancel the federal carbon tax on heating bills for Manitoba families and businesses, and will bring forward a private members’ resolution this fall calling for the tax to stop being charged and collected through Manitoba Hydro, Obby Khan, Shadow Minister for Finance, announced today.
“Manitobans have fired up their furnaces for the winter and it’s unfair they have to pay Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax cash grab while other Canadians don’t have to,” said Khan. “The prime minister once said that a ‘Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.’ It’s time that he stops dividing Canadians and gives a break to everyone, including Manitoba. Manitobans can’t wait for Ottawa to take action, which is why the NDP government must take the necessary step of immediately removing the carbon tax from Hydro bills.”
Most Manitobans rely on natural gas for home heating, with the punitive carbon tax costing $114-million in 2022. With plans for the tax to increase annually, home heating-related carbon tax costs will approach $150 million in 2023.
Ahead of his meetings with other premiers for the Council of Federation in Halifax this week, NDP premier Wab Kinew said that he wouldn’t ask for a carbon tax exemption for Manitobans. On Monday, however, he changed his mind after facing immense pressure from other provinces.
“The fact is this: Manitoba’s new premier will only stand up for Manitobans if his national NDP brethren and others do so first. That’s not leadership,” said Grant Jackson, Shadow Minister for Manitoba Hydro and the Public Utilities Board. “Our caucus strongly believes the carbon tax should not be charged on home heating and, with this week’s flip flop, we expect Premier Kinew to vote in favour of our upcoming resolution.”
While in office, the PCs returned $290 million to Manitobans through the Carbon Tax Relief Fund in 2022-23. When PC Leader Heather Stefanson called on Justin Trudeau to suspend the carbon tax in March of 2022, the NDP opposed the call with a bizarre claim that “suspending the carbon tax would actually cost the average Manitoban money.”
“Canada’s premiers have stood up to Justin Trudeau and called on him to do the right thing by treating all Canadians fairly. Some premiers have gone a step further and are exploring their options to stop collecting the carbon tax altogether,” said Khan. “We’re ready to work with the NDP government to eliminate this punishing, regressive tax, and put the savings back into the pocket of Manitobans to heat their homes and businesses this winter.”
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