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I just received the following from my MP, Mr. Doug Shipley:
Hello Peter,
After eight years of Justin Trudeau, life has never been more expensive.
To make matters worse, today, on April 1, the Liberal government hiked their costly carbon tax once again – this time by 23% - as part of a plan to quadruple it over the next 6 years. This means members of our community are paying more for the skyrocketing price of groceries, fuel, and home heating.
Already, Canadians have to pay $700 more for groceries this year, and food banks are expecting another million visits in 2024. Trudeau’s decision to quadruple the carbon tax is the last thing Canadians need.
The Liberal government is once again inflicting misery on Canadians, forcing people to choose between putting food on the table, heating their homes, or filling up their tanks.
Trudeau’s carbon tax has forced Canadians to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table. Yet, it’s clear that the carbon tax has done absolutely nothing to address climate change. Canada now ranks 62 out of 67 countries, dropping four places from the previous year, according to the Climate Change Performance Index. That’s because the carbon tax is not an environmental plan, it’s a tax plan.
In response to the Liberal government's April 1st tax hike, Conservatives put forward a motion calling on the House to declare non-confidence in the Prime Minister for increasing the carbon tax by 23% on April 1st and calling for the House to be dissolved so Canadians can vote in a carbon tax election.
I was proud to vote in favour of this motion. Unfortunately, the Liberal, NDP, and Bloc members all voted against this motion, and it failed.
My Common Sense Conservative colleagues and I have been clear, we will axe the tax on everyone, everywhere for good.
But, until we can have a carbon tax election, Trudeau must listen to common sense Conservatives, and millions of Canadians and cancel his all of his planned tax hikes.
As always, my constituency office is available to assist you with any matters related to the federal government. Please contact my office at [email protected] or 705-728-2596 for assistance.
This is my response to Mr. Shipley:
Hi Mr. Shipley,
You may not have noticed, but you and all Ontarians get a quarterly federal government bank deposit representing their “climate action rebate”. For my wife and I, this is $183 per quarter — so $732 in total for 2023.
This is more than twice the carbon charge my wife and I paid last year for natural gas and vehicle fuel.
I cannot estimate how the carbon charge affects the price of groceries, but it will be far less than we pay directly when we buy fuel.
Perhaps this rebate should have been labelled “carbon tax rebate” to make it clearer?
From today, this rebate will increase to reflect the rise in the carbon charge.
If a Conservative federal government “axes the tax” as Mr. Poilievre promises to do, this rebate will disappear. For the majority of Canadians, the rebate is larger than the amount they pay in carbon taxation. So, under a Conservative government the average citizen will actually be worse off, and those people who do not own a car will be much worse off!
I urge you not to vote to “axe the tax.” It makes no sense, either for the environment, or for ordinary Canadians.
Do what’s right for your constituents, and perhaps, explain the above to Mr. Poilievre ... if you dare!
Peter Bursztyn
Barrie
