By Tyler Marr

Province reacts as feds announce carbon tax rebate program for Saskatchewan

Oct 23, 2018 | 4:00 PM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unveiled the details of a federal carbon tax rebate program that will offset costs by providing cheques to families.

The program will be in place for Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick — the provinces that have not complied with placing a minimum cost on pollution or implementing an adequate pricing scheme by Jan. 1, 2019.

The four jurisdictions will have a federal carbon levy on fuels as well as a cap-and-trade style system for large emitters imposed on them. 

“Starting next year, it will no longer be free to pollute anywhere in Canada,” Trudeau said at Humber College in Toronto Tuesday morning. “We will send a climate action incentive directly to Canadians to help them adjust.”

The federal government said they will return 90 per cent of all the money it collects from a carbon price directly back to Canadians. The other 10 per cent will be handed out to small and medium-sized businesses, schools, hospitals and other organizations not able to pass on costs from the tax directly to customers.

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Residents will start to receive the federal kickbacks on their next tax return to offset the additional costs anticipated on everything from gasoline and groceries to home heating and electricity.

According to a federal website detailing the pricing scheme, there will be a 4.42 cent per litre charge on gasoline starting in April 2019 in Saskatchewan, alongside a fuel charge of 3.91 cents per cubic metre for natural gas used in home heating. Gas and diesel used on farms will be exempt. These rates will increase over time.

The government expects the average cost impact per household in the province to be $403 in 2019.

A typical family of four will receive $609 back in 2019. This will rise to $1,459 in 2021. The average household will receive $598.

A single adult will see $305 returned to them next year, while the second adult in a couple or a single parent’s first child, will receive $152. Each family will receive $76 per child or starting with the second child in a single-parent household. To support small and rural residents in Saskatchewan, a supplementary 10 per cent payment amount will be made available to recognize their increased energy needs and reduced access to energy-efficient transportation.

Premier Scott Moe railed against the plan, saying it is “most certainly not an environmental policy at this point in time.”

“This is a cynical vote-buying scheme heading into the next election,” he said.

Battlefords MLA Herb Cox seconded the premiers’ message and maintained the province will continue to fight the tax in court.

“I think our made in Saskatchewan plan does far more to combat climate change,” he said. “We are very aware of the things we need to do to combat climate change and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”

He pointed to projects like the Boundary Dam Power Station alongside other initiatives, saying they have been “very successful” in reducing the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere.

Cox believes the tax will have a negative impact on jobs due to the province’s large export and agricultural-based economy while also hindering industry competitiveness.

“Be it potash, be it canola, these types of industries have a strong reliance on fuel power, natural gas and it is going to increase their costs relative to a smilier business across the border in say North Dakota,” he said.

—With files from CJME, The Canadian Press

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr