The Saskatchewan government is not backing down from its plan to stop collecting the carbon tax for home heating starting in January, even as the Trudeau government says there would not be any more carbon tax breaks.“It’s disappointing to hear Minister Wilkinson defending an exemption that favours one part of the country over others and leaves Saskatchewan families out in the cold,” Moe told the Western Standard.“It’s worth noting that until very recently, the Trudeau government insisted there would be no exemptions. This changed suddenly last week when they announced an exemption primarily for one region of Canada.”“We continue to urge the Trudeau Liberals to do the right thing, ensure fairness for all Canadian families and provide an exemption for all forms of home heating,” said Moe.MLA Dustin Duncan (Weyburn-Big Muddy), minister responsible for Sask Energy, has lawyers working on shifting the responsibility of collecting the carbon tax from Sask Energy to the Saskatchewan government."That's what we're looking at right now. So I'm hoping to have an answer on that,” Duncan told the media.“That's really what we're looking at in terms of exploring, whether it be through legislation or regulatory remedies that would remove that burden. That obligation from the officers or the board members is shifted to me as the Minister.” “If it comes to that point, where somebody’s going to carbon jail, that likely will be me,” said Duncan.Duncan is still “hopeful” the Trudeau government will change its stance on exempting all home heating methods."I would just say that we're hopeful that the federal government will broaden the exemptions to include all fuels, including natural gas, as a way to provide fairness for all Canadians, including people here in Saskatchewan,” said Duncan.“I would say this, I think all of you know, we have been in compliance and continue to be in compliance. Sask Energy customers have paid over $500 million since 2019 in carbon tax payments to the federal government. So this is really a matter of while we disagree with the policy position of the federal government with respect to the implementation of the carbon tax, at least up until now, it had been equally applied across the country." "That changed with the prime minister less than a week ago. So this is a problem that Prime Minister Trudeau has, it's a problem Justin Trudeau is making. And so our view is that Prime Minister Trudeau can fix it.”NDP leader Carla Beck also rebuked Trudeau for the unfair application of the carbon tax.“Prime Minister Trudeau has singled out Atlantic Canada for relief, but the crushing cost-of-living crisis doesn’t stop at the Quebec border. All Canadians have seen their costs go up. We’ve all been affected, and we all deserve relief,” Beck told the Western Standard.“I think what you’re seeing is a growing coalition of leaders of all political stripes, both federally and provincially, that recognize that this relief should be extended to all Canadian families equally, not just based on Prime Minister Trudeau’s election map.”
