HUMBOLDT — Humboldt’s mayor is not happy with the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that the carbon tax is constitutional, saying he’s concerned about the impact on the local economy.
“It’s very, very disappointing,” he said on March 26. “I can't begin to say how frustrated I am with the federal government, but I'm very happy that Premier [Scott] Moe intends to continue the fight and do whatever he possibly can to help keep the Saskatchewan economy active and rolling without being unfairly penalized.”
The mayor said the carbon tax is an additional cost on everything people buy, including groceries, because they are brought in by vehicles that have to pay for fuel.
“As we all know, the economy's not in a great place right now because of COVID and stuff, so you're increasing expenses while you're decreasing everybody's incomes and ability to purchase,” he said. “It's just going to have a massive, crippling effect, which is what scares me extremely.”
The tax is at $30 per per tonne of CO2 equivalent and is due to go up to $40 on April 1. By 2030, that tax is supposed to rise to $170 per tonne.
On the previous day, Moe announced the province would be developing its own carbon pricing plan to replace the federal government’s. The idea is to follow New Brunswick’s example: they have a carbon tax on fuel, but have the provincial fuel excise tax reduced to lessen the hit to consumers. Such a plan would have to be approved by the federal government.
“I wish there was some way that we could do something on a bigger scale, but I respect that they [the province] have to work within their abilities and think outside the box to do whatever they can to help us get this all back up and functioning,” Behiel said about the plan.
The mayor said the city’s also concerned about additional costs due to the carbon tax.
“I suspect that we're going to see budgetary overages depending on how fast the impact of this starts to be felt.”
That concern reflects what the president of the Municipalities of Saskatchewan is saying.
“We've been behind the provincial government in this fight. It's costing municipalities and their residents hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per year,” Rodger Hayward told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
“We're not really sure what we're getting back from that. It's definitely a concern. We're going to keep working with our provincial government to help them come up with our own initiatives and make sure we look out for our residents.”
Behiel said he’s encouraging the public to support the province’s efforts in pressuring the federal government to make changes to mitigating the tax’s effects.
“It's a no-win situation for us, but once again, as I said, I really applaud everything that they are doing right now to try and think outside the box and help the economy of Saskatchewan as much as they possibly can.”
