Amid the economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal carbon tax jumped from $20 to $30 per tonne on April Fools Day.
On Wednesday, the outgoing leader of the Conservative party Andrew Scheer called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hold off on increasing the carbon tax but the PM did not indicate any intent to do so.
In an interview with MyMuskoka now, former Member of Parliament and analyst at GasBuddy.com Dan McTeague, who now serves as the President of Canadians for Affordable Energy – says there is no justification for this tax coming into effect.
“The Prime Minister should be held to account for such an irresponsible move,” McTeague said. “And I say so as a former Member of Parliament for 18 years under the Liberal party. I can’t believe that someone would be that tone-deaf to what is going on around the world and certainly within the country itself.”
The tax will not only see a rise now but will jump another $10 every year until 2022 – which amounts to around a 2.5 cent increase at the gas pumps.
McTeague says this will be felt immensely in the Muskoka area.
“If I am using 50 to 60 litres a week in fuel and many up in the Muskoka and Huntsville area would certainly be using that, that’s an additional $200 a year. If I’m using propane, it’s $110, if it’s natural gas, you’re looking at $140.”
McTeague says the Prime Minister could have put a moratorium on the tax for the time being for the sake of those who are currently out of work as a result of COVID-19.
He notes it seems contradictory to him that the Prime Minister would impose something like this when some people don’t know when their next paycheque is coming and he feels it’s contrary to common sense.
“We have a pandemic. It is a serious, veritable crisis in front of us,” McTeague added. “And these guys want to literally talk about the number of chairs available on the deck of the Titanic.”