HALIFAX, NS: Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) Atlantic Director Paige MacPherson released the following statement in response to Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil’s cap-and-trade carbon tax announcement this afternoon:

“Today’s announcement shows that Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is willingly selling Nova Scotians down the river to Ottawa by imposing an unnecessary cap-and-trade carbon tax.

Nova Scotia families have already met their 2030 emissions reductions targets. They already pay some of the highest taxes in Canada. The Nova Scotia economy is fragile and hitting it with a cap-and-trade carbon tax will make matters worse.

McNeil’s cap-and-trade carbon tax will increase the costs of electricity, home heating and gasoline – all necessities of life in Nova Scotia. This will particularly punish rural Nova Scotians. It will increase costs for ambulances, hospitals and schools at a time when services are already constrained.

For job creators, the cap-and-trade carbon tax is a “Do Not Enter” sign on the province. While other provinces are united in fighting Ottawa’s carbon tax, Nova Scotia is volunteering its economy to become less competitive.

Nova Scotians have done their part. We should not be making Nova Scotia families poorer with a new tax that will have no impact on global climate change. The Nova Scotia government should scrap its unfair cap-and-trade carbon tax and join the other provinces fighting Ottawa’s carbon tax.”