OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is urging NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to formally call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to scrap the carbon tax. 

“It’s good to hear Singh start to talk about opposing the carbon tax, but that’s not enough,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Singh must prove to taxpayers he’s serious and forcefully push Trudeau to completely scrap the carbon tax.”

Today, the Globe and Mail reported that “Singh signalled his party is planning to oppose the current carbon tax on Canadian consumers.”

“We want to see an approach to fighting the climate crisis where it doesn’t put the burden on the backs of working people,” Singh said. 

The carbon tax currently costs 17 cents per litre of gasoline, 21 cents per litre of diesel and 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas. Trudeau plans to increase the carbon tax to 37 cents per litre of gasoline by 2030. 

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says the carbon tax is a net overall cost for average families when all costs are included. The federal government also charges the GST on top of the carbon tax. This carbon tax-on-tax will cost taxpayers $595 million this year. That money is not rebated back to Canadians. 

Opposition to the carbon tax is not new for the NDP.

“Canada is a cold place and heating your home really isn’t a choice,” said former NDP leader Jack Layton. “We shouldn’t punish people, and that’s what a carbon tax does.”

Layton did not support the Liberal carbon tax proposal in the 2008 election.

“Layton opposed the carbon tax and he was proven right at the ballot box,” said Terrazzano. “Singh needs to follow that example and fight the carbon tax to prove he cares about taxpayers.”