LETHBRIDGE, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to join New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and launch a legal challenge against the federal carbon tax.

“Alberta successfully led the fight against the ‘No More Pipelines’ law at the Supreme Court, and Smith should get our province to do the same against the carbon tax,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta Director. “Albertans are being punished every time we pay our heating bills and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shredding constitutional accountability with his unequal application of the carbon tax.”

Higgs announced that if he is re-elected, New Brunswick would launch a renewed legal challenge against the federal carbon tax.

The federal carbon tax “carve-outs violate the Supreme Court’s ruling, and the tax makes gas, groceries, and essential services more expensive,” according to the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.

Last year, the federal government announced it is removing the carbon tax from furnace oil for three years, but did not exempt other forms of home heating energy.

“Across Canada, fuel oil makes up just three per cent of residential heating energy,” according to the government of Nova Scotia. “Natural gas was the most commonly used energy source for residential heating.”

The average Alberta home uses about  2,930 cubic metres of natural gas per year, according to Statistics Canada. That means removing the current federal carbon tax would save the average home about $439 this year.

“When Trudeau announced his furnace oil carve out, he admitted the carbon tax makes life more expensive and he left 97 per cent of Canadian families out in the cold,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “All premiers should do everything in their power to fight the carbon tax.”

A 2023 Leger poll found 70 per cent of Canadians support removing the carbon tax from all home heating fuels.

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