The ‘Guilbeault Whisperer’ is back.After tirelessly taking federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to task over his clean electricity regulations and oil and gas emissions cap, Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Protected Spaces, Rebecca Schulz is once again badgering him over carbon tax rebates to small businesses.Guilbeault and Prime Minister Trudeau talk endlessly about the rebates they’re giving ordinary Canadians yet seem to overlook the $2.5 billion owed to small and medium sized businesses across the country — $178 million in Alberta alone.That’s the amount the Feds have collected since 2019 through the so-called ‘fuel charge proceeds’ program. Ottawa has been promising to return those dollars to business owners, but five years later have yet to pay a dime..Schulz estimates 175,000 Alberta business are owed about $4,000 each — notwithstanding outstanding interest.To make matters worse, the government earlier this year announced plans to cut those rebates in half over future years. It’s not clear if those measures will be announced in Budget 2024 to be laid out April 16.Schulz accompanies her 2:53 video with a letter to Guilbeault’s office urging him to “immediately” remit said funds.“How can you continue to claim that the carbon tax is ‘revenue neutral’ and that funds will be returned to the province in which they were collected when you failed to return $2.5 billion dollars for five years?” she asks. “You government needs to take immediate action to fix this.”Schulz has earned the nickname ‘The Guilbeault Whisperer’ from her caucus and cabinet colleagues for her efforts to deal with Guilbeault in a professional capacity.
The ‘Guilbeault Whisperer’ is back.After tirelessly taking federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to task over his clean electricity regulations and oil and gas emissions cap, Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Protected Spaces, Rebecca Schulz is once again badgering him over carbon tax rebates to small businesses.Guilbeault and Prime Minister Trudeau talk endlessly about the rebates they’re giving ordinary Canadians yet seem to overlook the $2.5 billion owed to small and medium sized businesses across the country — $178 million in Alberta alone.That’s the amount the Feds have collected since 2019 through the so-called ‘fuel charge proceeds’ program. Ottawa has been promising to return those dollars to business owners, but five years later have yet to pay a dime..Schulz estimates 175,000 Alberta business are owed about $4,000 each — notwithstanding outstanding interest.To make matters worse, the government earlier this year announced plans to cut those rebates in half over future years. It’s not clear if those measures will be announced in Budget 2024 to be laid out April 16.Schulz accompanies her 2:53 video with a letter to Guilbeault’s office urging him to “immediately” remit said funds.“How can you continue to claim that the carbon tax is ‘revenue neutral’ and that funds will be returned to the province in which they were collected when you failed to return $2.5 billion dollars for five years?” she asks. “You government needs to take immediate action to fix this.”Schulz has earned the nickname ‘The Guilbeault Whisperer’ from her caucus and cabinet colleagues for her efforts to deal with Guilbeault in a professional capacity.
