VANCOUVER, B.C.: Premier David Eby must follow through on his election promise to scrap the B.C. carbon tax by joining Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s constitutional court fight against the federal carbon tax. 

“British Columbians are paying the highest gas taxes in Canada and we need carbon tax relief,” said Carson Binda, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Last time the carbon tax fight went to the Supreme Court, the federal government argued it needed a national carbon tax to deal with a national problem. But then it undercut its own argument for a national carbon tax by making an exception for furnace oil, which clearly favours Atlantic Canada.

“Eby has promised to axe the tax and now it’s time for him to put his money where his mouth is and fight the feds in court.” 

Smith announced today the government of Alberta is taking the federal government to court over the carbon tax, following Ottawa’s decision to exempt home heating oils from the federal carbon tax. That decision provided relief to Canadians in Atlantic Canada who use home heating oils, but left much of the rest of the country out in the cold. 

“Eby needs to join the court-fight against the carbon tax,” Binda said. “When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau carved out an exemption for home heating for Atlantic Canadians, he showed that the carbon tax is about politics, not solutions for Canadians.” 

This winter, the average B.C. family is on the hook for $330 because of the carbon tax on home heating fuels. The consumer carbon tax alone adds $11 to the cost of every minivan fill-up. 

“People are expecting us to deliver more and do better for them on the key issues that were front and centre during the election,” Eby said today on CKNW. “If the feds do remove that [carbon tax] backstop, then we will be moving to remove the carbon tax.”

“Eby shouldn’t wait for Ottawa to remove the carbon tax, he should join the fight to make it happen,” said Binda. “It’s time to scrap the carbon tax and make life more affordable for British Columbians.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation recently published a column about the constitutional case against the carbon tax in the National Post.

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