On Parliament Hill

Trudeau Hikes Carbon Tax 566%

  • Ted Falk, Author
  • Member of Parliament, Provencher

In the midst of fumbling a national crisis, inundated with scandal and responsible for the downward trajectory of Canada’s economy, the Trudeau Liberals are falling back on what they do best: raising your taxes.

Despite the unprecedented circumstances, and the financial pinch felt acutely by millions of Canadians, Justin Trudeau and his gang have decided now is the time to break their promise not to raise the carbon tax beyond $50 per tonne.

Shortly before Christmas, the Liberal Government announced their new “environment” plan.

The Trudeau Government is doubling down on their signature “environmental” policy, a federal carbon tax – a policy that does little of any significance to protect the environment.

The Liberal carbon tax will increase from its current $30 per tonne to $50 per tonne by 2022, up to $170 per tonne by 2030. That is a tax increase of 566% over ten years.

Sadly, Canadians are all too used to Liberals breaking their “promises”, but this one hits families at a time when many are already struggling to make ends meet.

Long before COVID-19 Canadian families were already feeling strapped.

Under the Trudeau Liberals, the average Canadian family was already paying $800 more per year in taxes, pushing nearly 50% of Canadians to the brink of being unable to pay their bills and service their debt.

Anyone who has ever had to live on a budget – most people – know that budgets do not balance themselves – despite the Prime Minister’s claims to the contrary.

This new tax increase – and subsequent increases to come – will only add to that burden.

Under this plan, an average 60-litre tank of fuel would increase by $22 per fill. Assuming one buys gas once a week, that amounts to an additional $1172 per year just in gasoline costs.

The Liberals’ refusal to create an exemption for farmers is already costing grain growers upwards of $60 million per year (or thousands of dollars per farmer) in unrecoverable costs. This plan will see those costs triple. As such, the price of food will continue to rise.

The cost of other necessities such as home heating will also continue to rise.

In short, the carbon tax is a tax on everything and it’s going nowhere but up.

Using the language of “re-set” and “build back better”, this is just one example of the Trudeau Liberals blatantly taking advantage of the current situation to promote their increasingly ideological left-wing agenda and expecting Canadians to pay for it.

Government is not a magical or endless source of “free” money for Canadians, nor are maxed out Canadians an endless source of revenue for governments.

Canadians are taxed out.

Millions of Canadian families have been forced to “tighten their belts” in recent months to live within their means. Canada’s government must learn to do the same.