FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 12, 2024
SIMCOE – MPP Bobbi Ann Brady today launched a petition calling on the government to drop carbon tax from natural gas and electricity used for heating.
With the federal government dropping the carbon tax from heating oil in November, which is the primary heating source in the Maritimes, several premiers of other provinces – including Ontario – where natural gas is the primary heating source cried foul. Since then, Saskatchewan announced it was not charging carbon tax on natural gas or electricity used for heating. A formula was used to average the amount of electricity used for heating if electrical heat was the primary heat source, and the carbon tax was removed just from that portion.
“By eliminating the carbon tax from home heating oil only and not other methods used for home heating, the federal government is discriminating against residents in provinces where electricity or natural gas is the main source of heat,” said MPP Bobbi Ann Brady. “The irony is natural gas is cleaner than home heating oil.”
Many, including Brady, believe this decision was politically based as many of the federal Liberal MPs from Maritime Provinces were calling for the removal of carbon tax from heating oil. With families struggling to pay the bills across Canada, Brady maintains this decision is not fair.
“This is a slap in the face to residents in other provinces,” Brady said. “Premier Ford was initially on the bandwagon calling this decision discriminatory, but he missed the opportunity to join Saskatchewan in standing up to the federal government and making a decision at the provincial level to say no to this practice. This hurts Ontario families struggling to pay the bills, and I’ve been hearing from many of them.”
Brady’s petition calls for Ontario to follow Saskatchewan’s lead, and remove the carbon tax from natural gas and electric heat for the next three years.
Copies of the petition are available by e-mailing [email protected].
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For more information, contact MPP Brady at 519-428-0446, 905-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629 or [email protected]