Achi news desk-
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said it was disappointed by what it called the “double whammy” of a tax increase in Alberta set to take effect Monday, saying it will make life more unaffordable for the majority of residents.
Both the federal carbon tax and the provincial gas tax are set to be increased on April 1.
Currently, the carbon pricing scheme is set at $65 per tonne. From April 1, it will rise to $80 per metric ton, and will continue to rise annually by $15 until it reaches $170 per ton by 2030. At the pumps, Monday’s increase will add about three cents per liter at the cost of gas. .
The federal government said annual increases form the overall pricing scheme. It is planned to raise the carbon tax until at least 2030.
“A province or territory may decide to adopt the federal pricing system voluntarily,” the government said on its website.
“If a province or territory decides not to price carbon pollution or proposes a system that does not meet the required national stringency standards, that jurisdiction is subject to the federal pricing system to ensure that there is an appropriate price on carbon pollution across Canada.”
The Alberta government also plans to increase its provincial gas tax on April 1 by four cents, bringing the tax increase to a total of 13 cents per litre. But many Albertans said they felt the pinch less than a week before the increase was implemented, with some gas stations in Edmonton raising prices to 151.9 last Tuesday.
“Revenue from the province’s fuel tax helps fund the programs, services and infrastructure that Albertans rely on every day. In 2024-25, fuel tax revenue is forecast to be $1.4 billion, which will help fund everything from better roads to better healthcare and more support in the classroom to continue to meet the needs of our growing population,” said the Finance Minister Alberta, Nate Horner earlier this month.
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Kris Sims, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the federal carbon tax will have a “layered effect” in increasing costs for Albertans.
“Even if you manage to have an urban location in the middle of the city, a kind of life where you only ride your bike, or only walk to farmers’ markets, you still to be hit hard by the carbon tax. And that is because the carbon tax applies to diesel at 21 cents extra per liter for diesel. That means the cost of almost everything we eat and use goes up because almost everything we eat and use is delivered to us by truck,” Sims told Global News on Sunday.
“So all those lorries you see on the highways, all those goods you see in the shops, those things are essential parts of our economy. And so every time you buy something, whether it’s food or supplies, the carbon tax is likely to block it many times over.”
It’s not just food bills that will go up for Albertans, according to Sims. Heating homes for the winter will also cost more this year, he said.
“So just for home heating, average natural gas usage here in Alberta, based on this carbon tax, is going to cost (Albertans) more than $400 this year for home heating. So that’s a lot of money,” he said.
Sims said that while the tax increases were not a surprise, they are outdated because of affordability issues across the state. According to her, the average Albertan will experience a net loss of $900 this year.
A report by Food Banks Canada published in September 2023 suggests that 49.4 per cent of those surveyed said they felt worse off than they did in 2022. The number of people citing wages low and difficulty accessing employment opportunities in their community also six percentage points higher than the national average, the report reads.
The report also suggests that there has been a 73 per cent increase in the use of food banks between 2019 and 2022.
“People are just broke, they can’t afford this, they’ve taken advantage,” Sims said. “That’s also why you see in opinion polls that about 70 per cent of Canadians want this carbon tax to either stop or be eliminated.”
–With files from Aaron D’Andrea, Emily Mertz and Jennifer Ivanov, Global News.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
