July 1 is our national holiday. Canada Day. The day on which we celebrate our country.
But Maritimers will have little to celebrate at the gas pumps. They’re just as likely to be seeing red as wearing red.
July 1 brings another increase in the federal carbon tax. A second federal clean fuel charge could raise prices even more. It’s going to be particularly bad in Nova Scotia, where the carbon tax is just coming into full effect.
The fair-minded can debate the merits of a carbon tax, whether it will work, whether people will actually get back more than they pay, as the government claims. But there’s no debating the timing is terrible.
Many of the people who will be hardest hit on Canada Day are already struggling to pay for groceries and the heating bill. It will get even worse when the furnaces kick on in a few months.
And many of these same people live in areas where there are few if any alternatives to automobiles for transportation. This isn’t Toronto with its subways and street cars and GO trains. Getting around in the Maritimes requires driving.
The carbon tax increases could be delayed, until inflation cools.
Failing that, the governments could and should stop charging the HST on the other taxes built into gas prices. That includes the carbon tax.
There’s an HST windfall for the federal and provincial governments every time the carbon tax goes up, which it’s going to do for the next seven years.
Ending the tax on taxes would save a few cents per litre, blunting the hardship the carbon tax will cause. That would be something to celebrate.
