Canada Revenue Agency plans to send Saskatchewan a bill for not collecting the carbon tax on home heating, Premier Scott Moe said Monday.Moe said the agency has indicated it will look at Saskatchewan’s records to see how much the province owes in levies that weren’t paid to Ottawa.“They will ask if they can look at the submissions we’ve made and for us to submit money they estimate may be owed,” Moe told reporters at an unrelated event at the YMCA.“We don’t believe there’s any dollars that are owed.”The Saskatchewan Party government did not collect the carbon tax on natural gas, nor remit it to Ottawa. The decision was made in defiance of federal law after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exempted users of home heating oil from having to pay the levy for the next three years.The heat output per gallon of fuel oil is 138,690 British Thermal Units, almost equal to that of natural gas (139,050 BTU). However, natural gas only produces 117 pounds of CO2 per million BTU, whereas distillate fuel oil produces more than 160 pounds.Moe said the decision was unfair as it largely helped Atlantic Canada and that Ottawa should remove the tax from all forms of home heating.“We think the federal government could actually take another step and make this whole policy decision more fair to more Canadian families,” Moe said.Trudeau said last week the agency is “very, very good” at getting the money. He wished Moe “Good luck with that,” in dealing with CRA.Due to provincial legislation made regarding the carbon levies on home heating and the responsibility for its collection lying with a provincial Crown corporation (SaskEnergy), Moe said the agency faced barriers in collecting the money.However, Moe believes Ottawa is attempting a workaround plan. He pointed to a part of the federal budget suggests pending changes to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Act. The changes would allow federal officials to share information with each other about provinces that aren’t paying carbon levies.Information would be shared “for the purposes of evaluating potential action,” the budget says.Trudeau has stood by his decision to exempt home-heating oil users. When the announcement was made last fall, he ruled out home heating exemptions of other kinds.The prime minister suggested, contrary to findings of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, that most Canadians get more in rebates than they pay in carbon taxes. He said Saskatchewan residents will continue to get rebates, also.
