The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to scrap its plan to increase the carbon tax, alcohol taxes and member of Parliament pay on April 1. 

“The feds will make life more expensive with the April tax hikes,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the CTF. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shouldn’t be raising taxes when Canadians can’t afford gas or groceries.”

The federal carbon tax will increase to 14 cents per litre of gasoline and 12 cents per cubic metre of natural gas on April 1. 

First passed in the 2017 federal budget, the alcohol escalator tax automatically increases excise taxes on beer, wine and spirits every year by the rate of inflation. Alcohol taxes will increase by 6.3 per cent on April 1.

MPs also take pay raises each year on April 1. The CTF estimates this year’s pay raise will range from an extra $5,100 for a backbench MP to an extra $10,200 for the prime minister, based on contract data published by the government of Canada. This will be the fourth MP pay raise since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“To add insult to injury, MPs will take another pay raise the same day they take more money from taxpayers’ wallets,” said Terrazzano. “Politicians don’t deserve a pay raise when they make life unaffordable with tax hikes and runaway spending.”