• B.C. government thinking of hiking second carbon tax
• British Columbians pay the highest gasoline taxes in North America

VANCOUVER, B.C.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is urging Premier John Horgan to stop hiking carbon taxes as new data shows that emissions continue to go up despite the highest carbon taxes in Canada.

“Even though we are paying the highest carbon taxes in North America, it isn’t working to reduce emissions,” said Kris Sims, B.C. Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Now Horgan is thinking of hiking our second carbon tax. Since that already adds about 14 cents to the cost of a litre of gasoline, how can he expect working people to afford to pay even more?”

On Monday, the provincial government released its overdue emissions data showing emissions have increased 10 per cent since 2015 and they’ve gone up in five of the last seven years.

Despite the emissions data, Horgan said he would comply with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to increase the carbon tax to $170 per tonne by 2030. The B.C. government also said it would increase the second carbon tax.

The second carbon tax is a fee embedded in fuel standard regulations. It costs taxpayers about 14 cents per litre of gasoline and 15.5 cents per litre of diesel.

Right now, the two B.C. carbon taxes cost about 24 cents per litre of gasoline. That totals about $18 extra to fill up a minivan. By the year 2030, those costs will more than double to more than 50 cents per litre and $37 per fill-up.

“When B.C. politicians first hit us with a carbon tax back in 2008, they told us it would be revenue neutral, that it would stop at $30 per tonne and it would reduce emissions, and today, none of that is true,” said Sims. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result and the government’s failed carbon tax hike program is driving common sense working people crazy.”

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