Many Saskatchewan residents polled on the carbon price believe that it should be abolished amid uncertainty around it and the increasing cost of living.
An Angus Reid poll released Monday asked 1,602 people from around Canada, 117 of whom were from Saskatchewan, about the carbon price and Saskatchewan’s decision to stop remitting the revenue collected on home heating to the federal government.
The government of Canada says that eight out of 10 families in the country receive more in carbon rebates than what they pay out in levies, but many of the respondents polled either didn’t believe that they received a rebate or weren’t sure.
Roughly half of the people asked felt that they paid more money in carbon levies than what they got back in rebates, but many were also uncertain about whether they received a rebate or the amount.
Over half of the respondents felt that cost of living concerns should outweigh climate change concerns.
A large majority of respondents didn’t feel like the carbon price was effective in reducing emissions, and roughly 40 per cent felt like it should be abolished altogether.
That number jumps when looking at Saskatchewan, with 61 per cent of those polled believing that the carbon price should be abolished, nine per cent believing that it should be lowered and 17 per cent saying it should increase as planned over the next three years.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said roughly a month ago that Ottawa will no longer be giving the rebates to Saskatchewan residents because Premier Scott Moe’s government is refusing to remit the federal levy on natural gas.
Premier Scott Moe in response threatened that the province won’t pay the levy on everything else affected by the carbon tax if residents don’t see rebates.
That being said, a government of Canada post on its website from the Department of Finance dated Feb. 14 shows that a Saskatchewan family of four in a rural area could receive $1,804.80 in annual rebates this year.
Global News reached out to the feds to clarify if residents in Saskatchewan will receive the rebate this year and received a statement.
“Canadians rightfully expect that everyone, including their provincial government, follows the law – and the price on pollution framework has been upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada,” said Katherine Cuplinskas, press secretary for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
“This year, a family of four in Saskatchewan is supposed to receive up to $1,800 in Canada Carbon Rebates. More than half a million Saskatchewanians benefit from the Canada Carbon Rebates.”
Saskatchewan’s decision to stop paying the federal carbon price is an illegal one, with federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault saying on March 5 that action will be taken.
“If Premier Scott Moe decides he wants to start breaking federal laws then measures will be taken. We can’t let that happen. What if tomorrow someone decides they want to break other laws, criminal laws? What would happen then?” Guilbeault said.
The minister in charge of SaskEnergy, Dustin Duncan, said he would be the one bearing the consequences of the province’s decision, which could include jail time.
Regardless of the legality of the decision, over half of the people polled felt that the Saskatchewan government was doing the right thing in not collecting the carbon price on home heating, with the highest support coming from respondents in Alberta and Atlantic Canada.
— with Files from The Canadian Press and David Baxter