OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is demanding tangible action for Canada's struggling energy sector, including scrapping the carbon tax and the flawed bill C-69, in response to reports of a forthcoming federal plan to earmark $1.6 billion to address the issue.
"Families who make their living in the energy sector are desperate, but they're desperate to get back to work and earn a living – they don't want to depend on temporary corporate welfare from Ottawa," said Aaron Wudrick, the CTF's Federal Director. "The crisis in Canada's energy sector is largely due to the Trudeau governments' catastrophic decisions and they are now simply trying to paper over the problem with borrowed money."
Ottawa will reportedly announce $1.6 billion to provide "job support" for Alberta later today, according to media reports. The announcement is expected after large protests in Calgary where the unemployment rate is now 7.9 per cent. Canada loses $80 million per day because Canada lacks pipeline capacity, according to the Alberta government.
Ottawa blocked the approved Northern Gateway pipeline in 2016. The government has yet to make progress on the Trans Mountain expansion despite using taxpayer money to buy the project for $4.5 billion. Bill C-69, which will make any future pipeline approval more difficult, is currently in the Senate after being passed by the Trudeau government. A federal carbon tax will hit millions of Canadians starting April 1st.
"If the Prime Minister wants people to think he cares by stroking a cheque for $1.6 billion, he needs to remember that only covers Canada's losses due to a lack of pipeline capacity for 20 days," said Wudrick. "Tying one hand behind the energy sector's back while sprinkling corporate welfare into the other hand is not a real plan."
Actions the federal government could take to support the energy sector include:
Withdrawing Bill C-69;
Withdrawing the federal carbon tax; and
Reducing business taxes to make Canada more competitive with the United States.
