Albertans are making dinners and heating our homes against the deep chill this autumn. But, doing these nourishing things, such as making a holiday meal and keeping our houses warm are now punishable offences in the eyes of the federal government.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s two carbon taxes make driving our vehicles, shopping for groceries and heating our homes cost much more. As one of the Trudeau government consultants who helped draft the legislation stated, the carbon taxes are meant to “punish the poor behaviour of using fossil fuels.”How much does this punishment cost? Let’s look at the numbers.The first carbon tax adds 14 cents per litre of gasoline and 17 cents per litre of diesel. This costs about $10 more to fill up a family minivan and about $16 more to fill up a light duty pickup truck.Don’t forget, it’s not just our daily drivers who are getting dinged. The carbon tax on diesel costs truckers about $160 extra to fill up the tanks on big-rig trucks that deliver nearly everything we eat and use in Alberta.We have a second carbon tax now, too.The second carbon tax is a government fuel regulation that fines companies for the carbon in fuels. Those costs are passed down to drivers at the pump.Trudeau fashioned his second carbon after BC’s charge. BC drivers have been paying two carbon taxes for years and it’s a key reason why they pay the highest fuel prices in North America, usually hovering at about $2 per litre. Trudeau wants to make Vancouver gas prices as common across Canada as hockey pucks.Trudeau imposed his second carbon tax this past Canada Day. It’s not clear yet how much the extra second carbon tax costs for a litre of gasoline and diesel in Alberta.In Atlantic Canada, though, the price of fuel is regulated and we can already see the second carbon tax tacks on an extra four to eight cents per litre of fuel.That big tax tab is going to get bigger because Trudeau is cranking up his carbon tax every year for the next seven years.By 2030, Trudeau’s carbon taxes will cost an extra 55 cents per litre of gasoline and 77 cents per litre of diesel, plus GST. Filling up a big rig truck with diesel will cost about $760 extra.In seven years, average Albertans will pay more than $3,300 per year because of Trudeau’s two carbon taxes even after rebates.Ordinary people pay Trudeau’s carbon taxes every day. So do truckers. So do farmers.Budgeting to buy your Christmas turkey soon? Turkeys eat grain which is hit by the carbon tax when it goes through the grain dryer. Turkeys are raised in heated barns, which is carbon-taxed, and the trucks hauling them from the slaughterhouse to the grocery store get carbon taxed, too. That’s how the carbon tax makes food cost more.The Parliamentary Budget Officer reports the carbon tax will cost Canadians farmers close to $1 billion by 2030.But it’s not just driving, hauling supplies and buying food that gets punished with Trudeau’s carbon tax. Home heating is punished too. The current carbon tax costs 12 cents extra per cubic metre of natural gas, 10 cents extra per litre of propane and 17 cents extra per litre of furnace oil.An average Alberta home uses about 2,800 cubic metres of natural gas per year, so the carbon tax will cost them about $337 extra to heat their home. Costs are similar for propane and furnace oil.Home heating is essential for Albertans. Our capital city regularly drops to minus 30 in the dead of winter.Punishing Canadians with a carbon tax is pointless and unfair.It’s pointless because the carbon tax won’t fix emissions. As the PBO has noted, “Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change.”It’s unfair because ordinary people who are driving to work, buying food for their families and heating their homes are backed into a corner.Carbon tax cheerleaders tell them to “switch.”Switch to what?What abundant, reliable, affordable alternative energy source is available to Albertans? This isn’t like choosing between paper or plastic bags at the store, this is about surviving the winter and affording food, or not.Albertans should not be punished for staying warm and feeding our families.Kris Sims is the Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Albertans are making dinners and heating our homes against the deep chill this autumn. But, doing these nourishing things, such as making a holiday meal and keeping our houses warm are now punishable offences in the eyes of the federal government.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s two carbon taxes make driving our vehicles, shopping for groceries and heating our homes cost much more. As one of the Trudeau government consultants who helped draft the legislation stated, the carbon taxes are meant to “punish the poor behaviour of using fossil fuels.”How much does this punishment cost? Let’s look at the numbers.The first carbon tax adds 14 cents per litre of gasoline and 17 cents per litre of diesel. This costs about $10 more to fill up a family minivan and about $16 more to fill up a light duty pickup truck.Don’t forget, it’s not just our daily drivers who are getting dinged. The carbon tax on diesel costs truckers about $160 extra to fill up the tanks on big-rig trucks that deliver nearly everything we eat and use in Alberta.We have a second carbon tax now, too.The second carbon tax is a government fuel regulation that fines companies for the carbon in fuels. Those costs are passed down to drivers at the pump.Trudeau fashioned his second carbon after BC’s charge. BC drivers have been paying two carbon taxes for years and it’s a key reason why they pay the highest fuel prices in North America, usually hovering at about $2 per litre. Trudeau wants to make Vancouver gas prices as common across Canada as hockey pucks.Trudeau imposed his second carbon tax this past Canada Day. It’s not clear yet how much the extra second carbon tax costs for a litre of gasoline and diesel in Alberta.In Atlantic Canada, though, the price of fuel is regulated and we can already see the second carbon tax tacks on an extra four to eight cents per litre of fuel.That big tax tab is going to get bigger because Trudeau is cranking up his carbon tax every year for the next seven years.By 2030, Trudeau’s carbon taxes will cost an extra 55 cents per litre of gasoline and 77 cents per litre of diesel, plus GST. Filling up a big rig truck with diesel will cost about $760 extra.In seven years, average Albertans will pay more than $3,300 per year because of Trudeau’s two carbon taxes even after rebates.Ordinary people pay Trudeau’s carbon taxes every day. So do truckers. So do farmers.Budgeting to buy your Christmas turkey soon? Turkeys eat grain which is hit by the carbon tax when it goes through the grain dryer. Turkeys are raised in heated barns, which is carbon-taxed, and the trucks hauling them from the slaughterhouse to the grocery store get carbon taxed, too. That’s how the carbon tax makes food cost more.The Parliamentary Budget Officer reports the carbon tax will cost Canadians farmers close to $1 billion by 2030.But it’s not just driving, hauling supplies and buying food that gets punished with Trudeau’s carbon tax. Home heating is punished too. The current carbon tax costs 12 cents extra per cubic metre of natural gas, 10 cents extra per litre of propane and 17 cents extra per litre of furnace oil.An average Alberta home uses about 2,800 cubic metres of natural gas per year, so the carbon tax will cost them about $337 extra to heat their home. Costs are similar for propane and furnace oil.Home heating is essential for Albertans. Our capital city regularly drops to minus 30 in the dead of winter.Punishing Canadians with a carbon tax is pointless and unfair.It’s pointless because the carbon tax won’t fix emissions. As the PBO has noted, “Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change.”It’s unfair because ordinary people who are driving to work, buying food for their families and heating their homes are backed into a corner.Carbon tax cheerleaders tell them to “switch.”Switch to what?What abundant, reliable, affordable alternative energy source is available to Albertans? This isn’t like choosing between paper or plastic bags at the store, this is about surviving the winter and affording food, or not.Albertans should not be punished for staying warm and feeding our families.Kris Sims is the Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
