Clark says any carbon tax battle between provinces and Ottawa
By COLLIN GALLANT on October 31, 2023.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant A battle over the carbon tax rebates on home heating fuel this winter is an issue for the federal government and provinces to work out, not utility companies, said Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark on Monday. That day Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced he would direct Crown-run SaskEnergy to stop charging the federal carbon levy on natural gas sales if Ottawa didn’t expand relief recently announced for Canadians who use heating oil, mostly in Atlantic Canada. Premier Danielle Smith has also said any break on carbon levy should be evenly applied across the county. Other Conservatives with long-standing arguments against the charges have framed it as a case of the Federal Liberals playing favourites. “There haven’t been any discussions about it (locally),” Clark told the News on Monday. “The carbon tax is the carbon tax right now. I know the province is hoping to have discussions with the federal government. We’ll see where those go.” In Alberta, the federal consumer carbon tax is applied to natural gas sales by, for the most part, privately run utility companies who remit directly to Ottawa – as opposed to the provincially operated SaskEnergy in that province. Medicine Hat provides natural gas for home heating and has applied the federal charge since 2019, when the incoming UCP government cancelled the provincial levy system set up by the Alberta NDP. 8-7
