Carbon tax is no joke: Lukiwski

Office of Tom Lukiwski

MP for Moose Jaw – Lake Centre – Lanigan

#1 - 54 Stadacona Street W, Moose Jaw, SK  S6H 1Z1

Phone: 306.691.3577 or 306.630.6060

Tom Lukiwski, Member of Parliament for Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan has condemned the hike in the federal carbon tax.

“For the Liberal government to impose this tax in the midst of a pandemic seems like a cruel April Fool’s joke but, sadly, it’s very serious,” Lukiwski said in a press release on Thursday.

The federal Liberal’s carbon tax plan requires that the tax be increased by $10 per tonne per year until 2022 and then by $15 per tonne per year until 2030. This year’s increase will see consumer gas prices rise on average by nearly nine cents per litre which Lukiwski described as a blow to efforts to rebuild the economy.

“The federal Liberals have delayed delivering a budget for two years because of COVID yet they are carrying out their carbon tax hikes right on schedule without review or debate. At a minimum, they should have taken into consideration the fragile state of the economy as we emerge from the pandemic and at least have given us a year’s grace on the carbon tax hike,” he continued. 

The tax will have wide-ranging effects on the economy beyond what motorists pay at the pumps.

“This tax makes it more expensive to bring food to grocery stores and supplies to manufacturers of medical supplies. There isn’t a single segment of the economy that will escape higher costs. Even small business owners and restaurants, already struggling with new lockdown regulations, will now face higher costs to bring in their inventory. Seniors and others on fixed incomes will notice increases in their daily costs of living.”

Lukiwski said that the carbon tax hike was even more of a travesty given that it is an unproven environmental policy.

“Carbon taxes failed in Australia and they are failing here. Three years into the carbon tax and Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are actually higher than they were under the Harper government.”

Lukiwski repeated the Conservative Party’s stance on scrapping the carbon tax.

“Out of sheer stubbornness, the Liberals are plowing ahead with the carbon tax despite it’s proven failure. Ultimately, a Conservative government under Erin O’Toole will scrap the carbon tax and develop more innovative, more effective climate change policies. In the meantime, it would be better for consumers, for business, for the economy and for jobs if the Liberals would suspend the tax immediately, at least until we get through the pandemic or vote them out.”