The federal carbon tax has now been forced on Saskatchewan, adding uncertainty for individuals, families, businesses and communities. From the gas station to the grocery store and all across the province, Saskatchewan people are now being forced to absorb higher costs on just about everything including our power and energy bills.
The federal government is even charging GST on their carbon tax – in effect taxing a tax. You won’t find PST on top of the federal carbon tax which will start appearing on your monthly utility bills, but those SaskPower and SaskEnergy bills will include a clearly detailed charge that reflects the new tax, and the GST on top of it.
On this and so many issues, the NDP is completely out of touch. Not only do they applaud the federal carbon tax, they don’t like the fact we are making the added costs on your bills known to you. So not only would they force this tax on you, your family, and job creators, it’s clear their preference would be to hide it from you too.
While Saskatchewan is fighting the Trudeau carbon tax in court, it’s now the law and the province needs to comply. Not paying the carbon tax it is not an option, even though SaskPower and SaskEnergy are owned by you, the people of Saskatchewan.
The Government of Saskatchewan has been clear in its court challenge that we believe the imposition of the federal carbon tax is a violation of the Constitution and has no place in our province. We have repeatedly asked the federal government to stop this forced carbon tax until the court has reached a decision – but they’re not listening.
We will continue to fight the federal carbon tax, while continuing to act on our made-in Saskatchewan Prairie Resilience climate change strategy, an effective plan to help our province address climate change. If we win this court case, we will make every effort to return all the carbon tax money charged through SaskPower back to Saskatchewan people where it should stay in the first place.
Manitoba has now joined our government and will be launching a legal challenge of the federal government’s decision to impose a carbon tax.
Eighty-eight per cent of Saskatchewan people support the fight against the carbon tax, which raises an important question – why doesn’t the NDP? The Saskatchewan NDP has supported the Trudeau carbon tax from the very beginning. Their leader Ryan Meili is on the record saying he applauds the policy and has reinforced his support for a carbon tax on numerous occasions.
The federal government’s own numbers show a $4 billion cost to Saskatchewan residents out to the year 2022 will result in only a 0.6 per cent reduction in emissions. This places tremendous costs on families and on our export-based economy.
While Ryan Meili and the Saskatchewan NDP stand and applaud Justin Trudeau, your Saskatchewan Party government will keep fighting this unconstitutional carbon tax, and are hopeful that it will soon be struck down in the courts. We will keep standing up for you, your family, and your jobs, and most certainly against the job-killing Trudeau carbon tax.
