Ontario Premier says that Trudeau Liberals risk being annihilated by voters if they don’t give up on the carbon tax hike.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford attend an announcement at Seneca College, in King City, Ont., Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. PHOTO BY CHRIS YOUNG /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Doug Ford is offering Justin Trudeau a bit of friendly advice: Cancel the carbon tax hike on April 1 or voters will punish you next election.
Saying that affordability is the No. 1 issue he hears about from voters, Ford said he doesn’t understand why the Trudeau Liberals are going ahead with the tax hike.
“You know the carbon tax is the worst tax you can ever put on the backs of people, and I can’t believe the federal government is actually going to hike the gas tax by 23%. Like, what don’t you get?” Ford said Friday.
Ford had been asked if he would follow Saskatchewan’s lead and not collect the carbon tax on home heating. The premier explained that Saskatchewan can do that because they own the biggest supplier of natural gas in the province but in Ontario, those supplying home heating are private companies and he can’t ask them to break the law.
“The No. 1 issue with people’s affordability,” Ford said. “Affordable homes, affordable groceries and affordable gas and what drives up the inflation is energy costs.”
Ford said that federal taxes on gas and other energy sources are already high enough.
“Guys, wake up smell the coffee. Like, what don’t you understand? Cancel this carbon tax, put it on hold, do whatever, and if you don’t the people of Canada are gonna annihilate you when the election comes up. Simple as that.”
It’s unlikely that Trudeau will take this advice from Ford any more than he’s taken it from the federal Conservatives, from Liberals in his own caucus or from businesses. Trudeau is convinced that increasing the carbon tax doesn’t drive up inflation even though the tax applies throughout the economy.
While individual Canadians, and families, get carbon tax rebates, the Parliamentary budget officer has shown that it doesn’t cover the total cost borne by consumers.
The tomatoes we buy this time of year, grown in greenhouses, have a carbon tax applied to the natural gas used to grow them. They have the carbon tax applied on shipping them from the farm to the store. They have the carbon tax charged on the heating, the cooling, the lighting of the store they are sold in.
We don’t get a rebate on those costs, only direct costs and even then, based on averages decided by bureaucrats.
When the carbon tax is charged on the fuel excise tax and then GST is charged on top of both of those taxes, we don’t get a rebate on those price increases.
A poll conducted by Leger in February for the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation found that most opposed the 23% tax hike on April 1. What’s more shocking is, the question didn’t even tell people how steep the tax hike would be, they just simply asked if you supported it.
“On April 1, the federal government will again increase its carbon tax. Do you support or oppose the federal government increasing the carbon tax?” Leger asked 1,590 people across the country.
Nationally, 69% said they opposed the tax hike. In fact, in every region and every demographic group, the majority say they are opposed to this tax hike.
Not that this will stop the Liberals. They are not only raising the carbon tax on April 1, but they are also increasing the tax on beer, wine and spirits by nearly 5% that same day and on May 1 will increase the security fee charged for air travellers by 33%.
People are hurting, the cost of living is through the roof, but Justin Trudeau wants to make everything more expensive.
Doug Ford is right. Voters will annihilate him and his party when we get a chance to vote again.
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