Two days after the federal carbon tax took effect in Atlantic Canada, residents of Saint John, N.B., are coming to terms with their new reality at the pumps.
“It doesn’t really matter how much they put it up because, no matter what, you’re still going to need a car to drive,” said one resident. “You’re going to have to pay it no matter what they put it up to.”
Other residents are more frustrated by the implementation.
“Honestly I think just like a lot of other Canadians, it’s just a government cash grab like every other tax they implement.”
The majority of pumps within Saint John Monday posted a fuel price just below $1.62. The highest price for gas in the province came in at $1.65. Nova Scotia remains the most expensive Maritime province to fill up in at $1.69, while Prince Edward Island fuel maxes out at $1.64.
The price of diesel is $1.64 in New Brunswick, $1.62 in Nova Scotia, and $1.63 in P.E.I.
Home heating oil prices also remain high.
Not only are gas prices rising, trips to the pump may become more frequent.
“The so-called clean fuel standard,” details Dan McTeague, President of Canadians for Affordable Energy. “And that means whatever a refinery does in most of Canada, with the exception of British Columbia and Atlantic Canada, they will be blending more ethanol into gasoline. That means wherever you have gone in the past, it’s going to take a little bit more money to do the same thing simply because ethanol does not burn like gasoline.”
Federal Climate Change and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the tax will make fossil fuels more expensive.
“People can decide and say, “OK, I’m going to continue my behavior and not change anything and the government is paying me for the extra cost,’” says Guilbeault in reference to carbon rebates Maritimers can expect in the future.
“Or as a consumer, you can say, ‘I’m going to go for a smaller vehicle, a more efficient vehicle, for example, and I’m going to have more money in my pockets to do what I want to do.”
The minister says tens of thousands of Canadians have already moved away from gas cars and heating oil to electric options, and folks in Atlantic Canada will do the same.
“If we don’t tackle our climate pollution, there will be more Fionas,” warns the minister. “There will be more forest fires, there will be more heatwaves.”
Another fuel hike is expected to hit the region by the end of the week.
