Opposition questions P.E.I. premier on carbon tax

A day after the federal authorities introduced what Maritimers pays when the carbon tax comes into impact this summer time, opposition MLAs on Prince Edward Island have been fast to level the finger on the King authorities throughout query interval.

“Did P.E.I. submit a plan that they knew can be rejected, similar to Nova Scotia did, to allow them to flip and blame the federal authorities after having its hand out for wanting extra funds from the federal authorities?” requested Robert Henderson, a Liberal MLA.

Premier Dennis King says P.E.I. considerably lower emissions underneath the house heating oil exemption.

“Islanders need to get to a greater, cleaner future, Mr. Speaker,” mentioned King. “We predict there’s a approach to do this with out including, Mr. Speaker, to the associated fee on the pump.”

The 17.4 cents a litre enhance is ready to come back into impact in July of subsequent yr. On the similar time, a federal carbon rebate launches.

For Nova Scotia and P.E.I., it’s practically $250 each three months, however the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says that gained’t cowl the elevated prices for many.

“We now have knowledge from the parliamentary funds officer that exhibits that, within the provinces that presently have the federal carbon tax backstop in place, households are dropping wherever between $400 and $800 a yr after the rebate,” mentioned Jay Goldberg, of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Half the properties on P.E.I. depend on heating oil.

The federal authorities introduced a $250 million program to get individuals to change to warmth pumps, with a $5,000 grant for low and middle-income owners.

However P.E.I. already has a warmth pump rebate program, and a program to offer away warmth pumps at no cost to low-income Islanders.

“Properly isn’t that nice. We did that two years in the past, Mr. Speaker,” mentioned King of the federal program.

All three Maritime provinces already charged the carbon value on gasoline, diesel and pure fuel, however heating oil had been exempt.

When the tax comes into impact on Canada Day, it can imply that individuals in seven out of the ten provinces are receiving carbon rebates from the federal authorities — which means there are solely three provinces with provincial techniques which were authorized by the federal authorities.