Furey asks Trudeau to halt carbon tax increase, citing few options for consumers in N.L.

Premier Andrew Furey shared an open letter Tues‐ day addressed to the prime minister, asking him to pause an upcoming in‐ crease to the carbon tax until inflation stabilizes.

Furey wrote the New‐ foundland and Labrador gov‐ ernment is "deeply invested in environmental sustainabil‐ ity," but says the tax increase of almost 25 per cent, slated for April 1, will add to resi‐ dents' financial burdens.

This isn't the first time Furey has asked for the tax to be removed or frozen. He says he doesn't think the tax is the right way to encourage people to choose renewable energy options.

"The issue for this particu‐ lar tax is there are limited op‐ tions to change right now in Newfoundland and Labrador," he said.

The tax is meant to incen‐ tivize people to shift from carbon-based to renewable energy options, but Furey ar‐ gues the province doesn't have the right infrastructure to support that change, such as having limited options for electric vehicles.

"In the absence of the ability to change, what does the tax really accomplish?" Furey told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

Other provinces don't have the carbon tax and em‐ ploy different approaches, he said, adding that the provin‐ cial government has indi‐ cated its openness to using other strategies that "don't punish people."

CBC News asked the prime minister's office for comment, but did not imme‐ diately receive a response.

Furey is the seventh pre‐ mier calling on Trudeau to halt the increase, joining pre‐ miers in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, On‐ tario and Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston also sent Trudeau a letter on Tuesday, calling the increase "unfair and mis‐ guided."

What to do instead

The carbon tax is meant as a means of encouraging people away from using fos‐ sil fuels.

The amount you're taxed depends on the fuel source you use - the more emissions it produces, the more you'll pay. The carbon tax on home heating oil, for instance, works out to $0.1738 per litre, regardless of the cost of oil.

While Furey is rejecting the tax as a policy, he says he's not against its intention. "That's not suggesting that there's not an environmental imperative or that we don't have a role to play in climate change," he said.

Furey's solution is to focus on working with industries, like the offshore petroleum industry in the province, to reduce their carbon emis‐ sions, and using government revenue to build the electric infrastructure required to move away from oil and gas sources.

In his letter, Furey didn't ask to completely remove the tax but to halt its increase to when the economy is more stable and incomes have caught up to the rising cost of living.

"While we have seen some reduction of inflation, we haven't seen a cut in the interest rates and we haven't really had time in the economy to breathe in the stabilization of inflation," he told reporters.

"So I'd like to see all of those things happen. But more important though that would like to see the options available for people to change."

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