Premier Wab Kinew is right to urge the federal government to cancel the carbon tax on home heating, but he needs to do more before it’s too late.

Kinew joined other premiers in demanding an exemption on home heating fuels from the carbon tax.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau currently charges Manitobans 12 cents per cubic metre on natural gas. Providing an exemption from the carbon tax on natural gas, which most Manitobans use to heat their homes, would save the average household about $300 this winter.

Calling for this exemption shows Kinew cares about making life more affordable for Manitobans.

He’s going even further by promising to suspend the provincial gas tax for at least six months.

But Kinew needs step up more because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to keep hiking up his carbon tax.

Trudeau is charging you 14 cents per litre on gasoline in carbon tax. That means every time you fill up the family minivan, you are paying about $10 in just carbon tax.

The Manitoba government also charges drivers a provincial gas tax of 14 cents per litre. When Kinew’s gas tax cut is implemented, it will spare drivers from the pain of the carbon tax, but only for a moment.

As soon as April 1 comes along, drivers will be punished again for filling up their vehicles. That’s when Trudeau is increasing the carbon tax on gas to 18 cents per litre. By 2030, that number will be 37 cents per litre.

This year alone, the federal carbon tax will cost Manitobans about $386, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and that’s after accounting for rebates. By 2030, that cost jumps to $1,490.
Those costs don’t include the second carbon tax that Trudeau imposed in July. According to the government’s own analysis, the second carbon tax will add up to 13 cents per litre to the cost of gas by 2030.

In 2030, filling up that same family minivan will cost almost $40 dollars in carbon tax alone. Kinew will have to do more than temporarily cut the provincial fuel tax to help Manitobans.

To make life more affordable, the premier needs to set his sights on the federal government and demand that it commits to completely scrapping the carbon tax.

Kinew is not alone in this fight. He would join the majority of premiers across Canada in opposing the entire carbon tax and the provincial NDP of Manitoba’s closest neighbour.

Premier Scott Moe passed motions in the Saskatchewan legislature calling for the abolition of the carbon tax on everything. That’s a motion that was supported unanimously by the Saskatchewan NDP.

Further west, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also called for “an end to the failed carbon tax and the burden it places on each of us and our families.”

The premiers of Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are also calling for the carbon tax to be scrapped completely.

It’s time for Kinew to take the next step and fully join the team fighting for lower bills on groceries, gas and home heating.

The government of Saskatchewan has gone further than the rest of the country in its fight for the home heating exemption. Moe announced that if the carbon tax exemption isn’t extended to all forms of home heating, he will direct SaskEnergy to stop collecting the carbon tax.

What better way to show Kinew is fully committed to fighting the carbon tax than doing the same thing with Manitoba Hydro? It would send a strong message and it’s something that the now opposition Progressive Conservatives are pushing.

Trudeau is only going to keep jacking up the carbon tax and making life more unaffordable. Kinew needs to do what’s right for Manitobans and demand that the carbon tax be scrapped for everyone, on everything.