• Average Alberta homes will pay more than $300 in carbon tax on home heating

LETHBRIDGE, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is urging Alberta’s Liberal Members of Parliament to convince Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to scrap the carbon tax on home heating.

“Alberta families are praying the power stays on and bracing themselves for the carbon tax bills on their home heating,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta Director. “With this blast of deep cold, heating our homes is a life-or-death necessity, not a luxury we should be taxed on.”

The federal carbon tax currently costs 12 cents per cubic meter of natural gas and 10 cents per litre of propane. An average Alberta home uses about 2,800 cubic metres of natural gas per year, and the carbon tax will cost them about $337 extra to heat their home this winter. Carbon tax costs are similar for propane.

The carbon tax will cost the average Alberta family more than $900 extra this year, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and that’s with the rebates already factored in.

The federal carbon tax will increase to $80 per tonne on April 1.  

In October, Trudeau suspended the federal government’s carbon tax on furnace oil, a fuel used for home heating primarily in Atlantic Canada.

Most Alberta homes use natural gas for home heating, with remote and rural areas relying on propane.

Both natural gas and propane still carry the full federal carbon tax charge.

“Government MPs in Atlantic Canada convinced Trudeau to spare their constituents the carbon tax punishment on home heating, so with overnight temperatures hitting minus 40, why haven’t Randy Boissonnault and George Chahal done the same for Albertans?” said Sims. “You will hear a lot about Trudeau’s rebates this week, but the PBO says average Alberta families will lose more than $900 due to the carbon tax this year, with rebates factored in.”

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