Fill up your gas tank! The Trudeau carbon tax hits Ontario on Monday

OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation today urged residents of Ontario to ensure they fill up their cars this weekend – because the new federal carbon tax will be added to the price at the pump starting Monday.

“Our premier was elected on the promise to eliminate the carbon tax in Ontario, and that’s exactly what he did. Now the prime minister is imposing one on the people of Ontario, and it is designed to deliberately make life more expensive,” said CTF Ontario Director Christine Van Geyn. “Punishing Ontario families for driving to work and taking their kids to soccer won’t do anything to stop global climate change, but it will put a squeeze on their family budgets.” The new federal carbon tax of $20 per tonne of CO2 emissions is expected to increase the cost of gasoline by 4.4 cents per litre and the cost of diesel by 6.4 cents per litre. By 2022, the federal government plans to charge 11 cents per litre on gasoline and 16 cents per litre for diesel. “The Trudeau government keeps insisting that raising taxes and giving part of it back will somehow leave everyone better off,” said Van Geyn. “Canadians know that math doesn’t add up.” Van Geyn also noted that the legality of the tax remains in dispute with court actions underway in Ontario and Saskatchewan with both provincial governments arguing the tax is unconstitutional. The CTF is intervening in both actions in opposition to the federal carbon tax. The Ontario hearing is scheduled to begin April 15. “The Ontario government felt so strongly about this federally imposed tax, they’ve taken the federal government to court to fight it,” said Van Geyn. “We are proud to stand with them in court against this job-killing tax grab masquerading as environmental policy.”