It’s a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.In this case, Alberta is ‘Peter’ and ‘Paul’ is represented by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who wants to put a punitive “windfall” tax on Alberta’s oil sector to pay the full cost — not ‘subsidized’ — of installing heat pumps in every home across the country.That’s a fairly tall order, considering the average cost of replacing a gas-powered furnace with a heat pump is about $15,000 to $20,000 a piece, plus installation..It would cost about $300 billion to fit all 15 million Canadian households with heat pumps. By comparison Canada's five biggest oil & gas companies made $38.3 billion in combined profits in 2022..It comes as the federal NDP was split on Monday over supporting a Conservative Party motion to pause the carbon tax on home heating — not just for high-polluting fuel oil users. And it wasn’t even a motion to ‘axe the tax.’Even so, a half dozen NDP MPs — about a quarter of the caucus — voted against the Conservative motion even though Singh supported it. Or removing the GST at the very least.Needing to up the ante, Singh is now proposing a “windfall tax” on Canadian oil and gas profits to pay for heat pumps. Given that there were about 15.3 million Canadian households as of the 2021 Census — and only 7% have installed heat pumps, according to StatsCan — that’s about 93% of homes that presumably need one, if Canada is to meet 2050 net zero goals. Or about $300 billion. By comparison Canada's five biggest oil & gas companies made $38.3 billion in combined profits in 2022. .That doesn’t include costs of upgrading the electrical grid, which the Conference Board of Canada pegs at $1.7 trillion.On its own website, StatsCan admits “the type of heating equipment used is directly tied to income.”In addition to being one of the lowest emitting, natural gas is also one of the cheapest. In that regard:“Electric heating was the most common source reported by the lowest-income households, with 47% of them having used this type of heating system. This likely reflects their higher likelihood of living in apartments, relative to higher income households.”In addition, 3% of Canadian households reported receiving a disconnection, shut off or non-delivery notice with respect to their energy bill in the past 12 months. A larger share (1 in 10 households) reported they had been late or unable to pay their energy bills in the past 12 months due to high energy prices. The gap was especially apparent between the highest income quintile, at 4%, and all other income quintiles, each at around 10, according to StatsCanEnergy..Across all incomes, lone parent families (27%) were the most at risk of cutting back on basic needs to pay for their energy bills. They were more than 1.5 times as likely to face this situation than couples with children (16%) and more than three times as likely as couples without children (8%).In other words, it sounds to have been a slam dunk to support the Conservative motion. “The inability to pay for basic necessities is not the only challenge Canadian households face due to rising energy costs,” StasCan said. “The health consequences of unsafe indoor temperatures can be immediate. About 2% of Canadian households reported someone in their home needed medical attention because their home was either too hot or too cold. While this situation is relatively rare, it was more prevalent for lower-income households… compared with the highest income households.”
