JUST ANOTHER ELECTION GIMMICK, SAYS SCHEER.
Scheer criticizes move as ‘election gimmick’
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t just announce a carbon-tax rebate plan on Tuesday; he also launched a political messaging war that will see Conservative and Liberal politicians battling over the money that will soon start flowing on tax returns.
For Conservatives, it will be painted as an opportunistic ploy to buy votes and cover up a tax hike; for Liberals, it will be a long-overdue climate policy that will generate federal rebates only in provinces where the sitting government is refusing to act.
Government officials say their models show 70 per cent of Canadians affected by the federal carbon tax will get more back in rebates than they pay in added costs. The rebates will start showing up on next spring’s tax return.
The federal tax, described as a “backstop,” applies only in provinces that haven’t adopted an equivalent carbon-pricing program, meaning it will affect Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick — though the Alberta election scheduled for next spring could add that province to the mix if the United Conservative Party wins.
The result is that provinces subject to the backstop will see their residents get a large federal tax rebate each year, while the other provinces control their carbonpricing revenue and can spend it as they choose.
Conservative politicians who have led the opposition to carbon taxes came out firing on Tuesday.
“Today Justin Trudeau unveiled his election gimmick to try to trick Canadians into paying higher taxes on basic necessities,” said Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer outside the House of Commons. “Canadians have known all along that Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax was just a tax plan dressed up as an emissions plan. Now we know it’s really also just an election gimmick.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford — whose province would have been exempt from the federal backstop until he cancelled its capand-trade program this summer — also accused Trudeau of trying to trick voters.
“Never believe a politician who tells you he will save you money by hiking your taxes,” said a statement from Ford. “The people of Canada are too smart to believe that Trudeau’s phoney rebates are anything more than a temporary vote-buying scheme that will be discarded once the election is over. In contrast, the carbon tax rip-off is forever.”
In Regina, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the money should just stay with residents in the first place.
“We see it as a cynical vote-buying scheme using your money to buy your vote,” he said.
“This is Saskatchewan. Most of us have to drive a lot. We drive to work, we drive for our kids’ recreation and their school, and we have to heat our homes on some very cold days in this province. This is all going to cost a whole lot more now.”
Saskatchewan and Ontario are both fighting the carbon tax plan in court, arguing the federal government doesn’t have the constitutional right to impose it on provinces that don’t want it, but it will likely take many months for that to be settled.
Gerald Butts, a top aide to Trudeau, reacted to some of the criticism on Twitter, pointing out that this was a specific election promise from the prime minister and that provincial governments have had plenty of time to come up with their own solutions.
“When the Conservative Premiers bailed on the Climate Plan, the only real option to fulfill that promise (now federal law) was to return the money to the people,” he wrote.
Trudeau, who made the announcement in Doug Ford’s home turf of Etobicoke in Toronto, also did radio interviews in the morning to spread that message, telling CBC Radio that “unfortunately, the conservative movement in this country is determined not to act on the environment.”
Trudeau promised that “every nickel” collected as part of the federal carbon tax will be returned in the province it was collected, with 10 per cent going to such organizations as schools, universities and small businesses, and the rest going directly to residents.
The amount of money rebated depends on the amount of carbon tax collected and family size. That means Saskatchewan residents are expected to get the highest rebate, starting at $598 for the average family, due to the fact their province has high emissions per capita.
The average Manitoba family is expected to get a $336 rebate; an Ontario family is expected to get a $300 rebate; and a New Brunswick family is expected to get a $248 rebate. Those numbers are for 2019, and will likely rise as the carbon tax rises gradually.