Motorists are in for a new kind of sticker shock at pumps across New Brunswick this summer — and it won’t be the cost of fuel.
The province has sent out stickers to 500 gas stations in New Brunswick that denounce the carbon tax and the impact it’s having on pocketbooks.
The move has been swiftly condemned by Opposition parties, who are questioning whether the government of Premier Blaine Higgs is attempting to sway the upcoming federal election.
“To me — I’m going to repeat myself — it looks like propaganda and I don’t like it at all,” said Denis Landry, interim leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party.
READ MORE: Gas stations could be fined up to $10K if they don’t display Ontario government carbon tax stickers
Landry told Global News that the Liberal Party was sent the letter and sticker anonymously.
The document outlines how the federally imposed carbon tax will impact the price of gas through to 2022 and is signed by Energy Minister Mike Holland. The letter suggests that retailers display the stickers at the pumps.
“We’ve made no apologies about speaking out and standing up for New Brunswickers,” Holland said on Wednesday.
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“We feel that it’s important to be able to explain to New Brunswickers exactly where their money is going.”
The mail-outs cost taxpayers about $2,500, and they don’t have any information about the consumer rebates baked into the carbon tax.
The move is similar to the stickers on Ontario gas pumps, but if gas stations there don’t display the information they can be fined $10,000 a day by the Doug Ford government.
New Brunswick says it will not be issuing fines to gas stations if they don’t display the stickers, but Opposition parties say they’re concerned that the stickers are going to be used to sway voters just months ahead of the federal election.
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Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has made it clear that if re-elected, he intends to eliminate the controversial carbon tax. The federal backstop is imposed on New Brunswick and three other provinces after they failed to implement a plan that was approved by the federal government to control carbon emissions.
David Coon, New Brunswick Green Party leader, likened the stickers to propaganda.
“It’s politically motivated,” he said.
“There’s nothing in there that says that you receive a refund, that the money returns to you, nor does it say anything about the actual costs of the consequences of climate change.”
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