Prairie premiers urge Prime Minister Trudeau to stop carbon tax in joint letter

In a joint letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, three premiers from the Prairie provinces are urging the federal government to stop the carbon tax.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney tweeted the letter on March 28, 2022, and tagged Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, stating, “this is the worst possible time to increase energy costs on Canadians”.

“We write to urge immediate action on the skyrocketing energy costs being borne by all Canadians,” read Premier Kenney’s tweet. “We are therefore jointly urging the federal government to temporarily suspend of the federal carbon tax.”

The letter ended, stating all three provincial governments are “putting measures in place to address deep affordability concerns in these challenging times to help.”

As Premier Moe is out on his trade mission to Europe, Deputy Premier Donna Harpauer told reporters on March 28th they haven’t yet seen a formal response from the letter.

“The ask that I had is let’s just not have the next increase,” she said. ” I don’t think there has been a response to it, to my knowledge.”

However, a few weeks ago the Saskatchewan NDP suggested the province suspend the provincial gas tax — which has not happened either.

Harpauer was questioned on why they are reaching out to the federal government for relief on cost of living instead of looking within and she defended her latest budget.

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“We have the second lowest utility bundle in the nation,” said Harpauer. “We significantly reduced education property tax reliance, we significantly decreased our personal income tax …  we have the low-income tax credits … we have the home renovation tax credit which is the only one in Canada (and) we have the new homebuyer tax credit.”

Canada’s carbon price is set to increase on April 1, 2022  by $10 per tonne each year until it reaches $50 per tonne in 2022.