Politics or not, remitting federal carbon tax still about fairness
Like most things these days when it comes to federal-provincial relations in Saskatchewan, it's hard to get past the politics.
It's even hard to get past the politics when this Saskatchewan Party government is on the right side of the issue, which appears to be the case in Crown Investment Corporation Minister Dustin Duncan's “announcement” Thursday that the province will not be remitting the equivalent of the carbon tax it is now not collecting on home heating.
The problem is, this government turns everything into politics — even significant government policy directions where a serious principle at play tends to turn into a political dog-and-pony show.
Duncan made the announcement on his informal social media where Premier Scott
Moe and others choose to speak directly to their Sask. Party voters rather than at a press conference where they would have faced greater accountability generated by reporters' questions.
And there are surely a lot of questions about this policy decision that need to be answered:
What does this decision mean to the province's budgets, given the possibility the federal government may withhold the equivalent amount in transfers it sends to this province?
Has the government anticipated this and how does it intend to make up the revenue difference for the people of this province?
Did one of the reasons behind the decision not to remit the tax payment have anything to do with the fact that the 2023-24 books are a lot bigger mess than the provincial government is letting on, as would seem to be the case with the needed $757 million in cabinet special warrant spending before the end of fiscal year?
Exactly what shape is the 2023-24 budget in? What about the simple principle that we are all legally required to pay our taxes — whether we think they are fair or not? What is the precedent here?
What if town and city businesses stopped paying the provincial sales tax on their business-related purchases because farmers this year are getting a $118.8-million PST exemption on farm machinery, repair and parts and a further $354.8-million PST exemption on fertilizers, pesticides and seeds?
What if we all decided to quit paying the provincial gas tax because there is a $75-million gas tax exemption available to farmers in Saskatchewan and no one else?
Has anyone considered how this will affect taxpayers, given that the federal government responded by saying it will eliminate the carbon tax rebate cheques it sends directly to Saskatchewan people? How will we be any further ahead?
Instead of answers, we got a low-quality video from Duncan in Ottawa (there to speak at a nuclear conference) with political overtone about this Leap Day being the 40th anniversary of when Trudeau, the elder, took his famous walk in the snow and decided to retire.
“We recognize that this may come with consequences,” Duncan said in the video.
But consequences for whom? While Duncan seemed to recognize there were consequences for him as a minister now breaking the law, there was nothing in the muffled audio of the video that seemed to recognize there might be consequences for the rest of us.
All that said, the element in Duncan's video perhaps most worthy of our attention is that notion of fairness. And the simple reality is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's federal Liberal government is choosing to be a lot fairer to Atlantic Canadians than Canadians living here.
Given comments by federal Liberal Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings suggesting “perhaps they need to elect more Liberals on the Prairies so we can have that discussion as well,” we can easily surmise what really motivated giving a carbon tax break to those Liberal-voting Atlantic Canadians.
That just isn't right. As Duncan suggests, it comes down to a matter of fairness. Politics aside, the Trudeau government has simply not treated Saskatchewan fairly.
Sure, the Sask. Party government is playing politics, too. But that doesn't mean there isn't an important principle in play.