The federal government says Alberta Premier Daniel Smith’s application for a judicial review of Ottawa’s carbon tax is nothing more than a political charade.
Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault and Justice Minister Arif Virani said it was disappointing but not surprising that Mr Smith was pulling a “political stunt” ahead of this weekend’s United Conservative Party leadership test. Ta.
“She is well aware that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favor of carbon pricing,” they said in a statement to The Canadian Press on Wednesday.
They said the three-year exemption on home heating oil is intended to give Canadians time to switch to cheaper home heating.
In Alberta, a family of four will receive $1,800 this year under the country’s largest carbon rebate.
“We continue to have full confidence in the legality of Canada’s carbon pricing system,” their statement said.
Mr Smith announced on Tuesday that the United Conservative Government is asking the Federal Court to declare the carve-out unconstitutional and illegal, in hopes of abolishing the carbon tax completely.
Speaking Wednesday at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, Smith reiterated that the federal government is creating a “double standard” by exempting heating oil but not natural gas, which many Albertans depend on. .
“A carbon tax is an unnecessary punitive cost that will do nothing to achieve affordability. And rising costs of living mean everything in life will become more expensive. ” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party argued that carbon pricing was designed to fight climate change and put more money into Canadians’ pockets in the form of rebates.
When the City of Ottawa proposed a three-year exemption on household heating oil, it also announced a doubling of rebates for rural Canadians.
Guilbeault and Villani said the Smith government is refusing to come to the table to open up the oil-to-heat pump affordability incentive program to Albertans.
Less than 1 per cent of households in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba use kerosene, according to the Alberta government.
Smith has in the past urged Ottawa MPs to pass exemptions for farmers who use propane to dry grain and natural gas to heat barns.
Justin Brattinga, a spokesperson for Alberta’s Department of Finance, said in a statement that the farm fuel exemption extends across the country.
”[This] That’s exactly our point. “The kerosene exemption helps certain parts of the country and is a crude political stunt to buy votes in Atlantic Canada,” Brattiga said.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith’s move was staged and that the premier would rather fight a long legal battle with Ottawa than work to get a better deal for Alberta. He said it shows that there is.
Still, he said the federal government’s cut-off of home heating oil taints the source of public support for a carbon price.
