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Morgan visits local chamber to discuss carbon tax concerns

Jun 21, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The federal government’s proposed carbon tax will hurt businesses and residents alike.

That’s according to Saskatchewan Minister Don Morgan, who shared his concerns when he gave a presentation during a visit to Battlefords Chamber of Commerce Thursday.

Morgan, whose portfolio includes the Ministries of Justice and Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, said the province is making efforts to contest the proposed federal bill. 

“When the tax comes in it will be directly applied to things like fuel for people’s vehicles, natural gas for people’s homes, and will add [up to] 20 per cent directly to heating and fuel costs,” Morgan said. “There will certainly be an immediate effect on that.”

What’s worse, Morgan said, is the tax will also be applied to fuel on vehicles transporting food to grocery stores. Building materials coming in will also have the additional tax, Morgan said, so ultimately there will be a permanent increase on taxes and costs for all Saskatchewan residents.  

“Our goal in avoiding this is to try to convince the federal government that a carbon tax is not a good thing,” Morgan said. “What they should do instead is look at equivalency agreements and different methods of working with industry and the provinces to try and reduce overall emissions.”

The province has a court challenge against the federal government’s proposed carbon tax bill, and the case is currently going through the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

“Our expectation is that that will be heard sometime late this year or early the following year,” Morgan said. “We hope to have a decision from the Court of Appeal to say this bill is beyond the legislative ability of the federal government to pass.”

The minister said the province is hoping people across Canada will write to their members of parliament and the prime minister to say “this is something that doesn’t work. Look at some other options.”

Morgan said the federal government should also factor in the work that has been undertaken in the province to reduce emissions and benefit the environment. 

During a question session, Battlefords MLA Herb Cox said Saskatchewan should have been given credit for what it is already doing to reduce its carbon footprint. He pointed to new agricultural processes as an example, and Saskatchewan’s Boundary Dam 3 Power Station carbon-capture project was also mentioned.

After the meeting, Battlefords Chamber of Commerce President Terry Caldwell said the carbon tax is a big concern for local business as well.

“It should be [concerning] to every businessperson right now because those added costs are only coming out of our pocket to make us less able to do the things we want to do in businesses,” Caldwell said.

While there were only about a dozen people in attendance at the presentation, Caldwell said those who came out were able to access more information about how the province is “fighting this carbon tax.”

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

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