The government is creating a carve-out for the carbon tax on home heating oil, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.
The government will exempt home heating oil from the tax for three years, double the rural supplement in the rebate program and offer new programs Trudeau said will help rural Canadians switch to electric heat pumps.
“This is an important moment where we’re adjusting policies so that they have the right outcome. We are doubling down on our fight against climate change and keeping true to the principles that we’re supporting Canadians while we fight climate change,” Trudeau told a press conference.
While the exemption applies nationwide, Trudeau said the policy will help Atlantic Canada in particular. Thirty per cent of homeowners in the region still use furnace oil to heat their homes.
Trudeau announces 3 year carbon tax exemption for home heating oil
Featured VideoPrime Minister Justin Trudeau says the pause will allow Atlantic Canadians to make the switch away from fossil fuels without worrying about the upfront cost.
“We’ve heard clearly from Atlantic Canadians through our amazing Atlantic MPs that since the federal pollution price came into force … certain features of that pollution price needed adjusting to work for everyone,” he said, surrounded by a number of Liberal MPs from the region.
The federal carbon tax applies in provinces and territories that don’t have carbon pricing systems that Ottawa considers sufficient to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Households in those provinces receive a rebate to offset the tax.
Trudeau said the pause is meant to give rural Canadians more time to switch to alternative sources like electric heat pumps.
Last year, the government earmarked $250 million for provinces and territories to help low-income households make the switch from fossil fuels to other sources. On Thursday, Trudeau said his government would be boosting that grant for lower-income households in Atlantic Canada to make the switch away from fossil fuels easier.
“We are switching to heat pumps off home heating oil as a region in Atlantic Canada and as a country,” he said.
The government already gives a supplement to residents of rural and small communities that increases the rebates in their province by 10 per cent to account for increased energy needs and reduced access to transportation options. That top-up will rise to 20 per cent in April.
The carbon tax is currently priced at $65 per tonne of emissions and is set to rise by $15 every year until 2030.
Poilievre has used the carbon tax as a line of attack against the Liberals. His latest “axe the tax” rally is set for Thursday night in Windsor, N.S.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre holds a press conference in New Brunswickers calling on the federal government repeal the carbon tax. (Shane Magee/CBC)
Just last year, the Conservatives put forward a non-binding motion to remove the carbon tax from home heating fuel. Most Liberal MPs voted against it.
The Conservative leader quickly took to social media to accuse Trudeau of backing down.
“After plummeting in the polls, a flailing, desperate Trudeau is now flipping and flopping on the carbon tax,” Poilievre posted on X, formerly Twitter.
NDP MPs Laurel Collins and Charlie Angus issued a joint statement on Thursday accusing the prime minister of only being concerned about his party’s political fortunes in Atlantic Canada. They criticized Trudeau for not going further by removing the GST on home heating fuel and investing in cleaner energy sources.
“If Trudeau had made the investments needed in energy efficiency, electrification and clean power years ago instead of handing over billions to big oil, Canadians would already see lower energy bills,” they said in their statement.
Featured VideoPrime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a three-year pause on the carbon tax on home heating oil, a move aimed at people in Atlantic Canada — but is it really a victory for the opposition? Plus, why is Pierre Poilievre still talking about vaccine mandates? And can Ottawa halt Alberta’s plans for its own pension plan?
But Trudeau also has been facing pressure from provincial premiers and some of his own MPs to do something about the rising cost of fuel.
The tax has been a source of anxiety for Atlantic Liberal MPs in particular.
Liberal MPs like Kody Blois of Nova Scotia and Ken McDonald of Newfoundland and Labrador pressed the prime minister for a rural carbon tax carve-out at the Liberal national caucus retreat in September.
McDonald has voted twice in favour of Conservative motions calling on the government to repeal the tax.
“Everywhere I go, people come up to me and say … ‘We’re losing faith in the Liberal Party,” McDonald said in an interview with the CBC’s Power & Politics earlier this month.
The Liberals have enjoyed healthy support in Atlantic Canada since 2015, but McDonald warned the party would lose seats in the next federal election if the government didn’t do something on the carbon tax.
Asked if Thursday’s announcement was meant to prevent the Liberals from losing seats in Atlantic Canada, Trudeau said Canadians in other provinces will also benefit.
“People across the country are going to benefit from the suspension of the price on pollution on home heating oil and benefit from the programs we’re putting in place,” he said.
Featured Video‘We’re offering people solutions,’ MP Kody Blois, chair of Liberal Atlantic Caucus, told Power & Politics Thursday regarding the three-year pause to the carbon tax on heating fuel. ‘We’re delivering a program that’s not only going to help people today by exempting the carbon price this winter but … making sure we have programs to help make that transition long-term.’
In an interview with CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, Blois insisted that Thursday’s announcement isn’t a watering-down of the Liberals’ climate policy.
“This is about adjusting a national policy to ensure there is equity across the country,” Blois told host David Cochrane. “This is not a step back on climate whatsoever.”
Blois, who chairs the Liberal Atlantic Caucus, credited his Atlantic colleagues for making the policy change happen.
In May, the four Atlantic premiers urged the federal government to delay a new clean fuel standard that took effect in July. They argued the standard would only put upward pressure on the cost of fuel.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey and Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King, left to right, field questions at the closing news conference at a meeting of the Council of Atlantic Premiers in Halifax in March. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)
Last year, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, a Liberal, wrote a letter to the federal government calling for an exemption for home heating oil.
Furey welcomed Trudeau’s announcement on Thursday, saying it was a “good day” for his province.
“I am glad the prime minister has listened and recognizes the impacts of carbon tax on our region, as he has taken a positive step towards helping Atlantic Canadians with affordability,” Furey said in a media statement.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said Thursday’s announcement was a “good move” but added he would like Ottawa to consider other adjustments.
“I’m hopeful that what comes out of this is really to have an evaluation of the entire carbon tax program and say, ‘Is this achieving what it was intended to achieve?'” he said in a separate interview on Power & Politics.
Higgs’s comments were echoed by Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, who said he’d like the federal government to also remove the tax on gasoline.
“The fact that it’s on fuel is a real harmful thing and it hurts a lot of people, but [the exemption on home heating oil] is a first step,” Houston said.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index gained more than 350 points Thursday in a broad rally led by energy and technology stocks, while U.S. markets also rose, led by a one-per-cent gain on the Dow.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 354.22 points at 25,390.68.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 461.88 points at 43,870.35. The S&P 500 index was up 31.60 points at 5,948.71, while the Nasdaq composite was up 6.28 points at 18,972.42.
The Nasdaq lagged an otherwise decent day for Wall St., rising just 0.03 per cent as it was dragged down by Google parent Alphabet and some of its tech giant peers.
The tech company’s stock fell 4.6 per cent after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break it up by forcing a sale of the Chrome web browser.
Amazon shares traded down 2.2 per cent while Meta and Apple both moved lower as well.
After a substantial run for major tech stocks this year, that kind of news “shakes people a bit,” said John Zechner, chairman and lead equity manager at J. Zechner Associates.
Meanwhile, semiconductor giant Nvidia saw its stock tick up modestly by 0.5 per cent after it reported earnings Wednesday evening.
The company yet again beat expectations for profit and revenue, and gave a better revenue forecast for the current quarter than expected.
But expectations for Nvidia have been so high amid the optimism over artificial intelligence that even beating forecasts wasn’t enough to send its stock flying the way it has in previous quarters, said Zechner.
Nvidia essentially caps earnings season in the U.S., with companies largely beating expectations, said Zechner — though those expectations weren’t exactly lofty for companies outside the tech and AI sphere, he added.
The Dow led major U.S. markets as the post-election hopes for economic growth continued to fuel a broadening of market strength, said Zechner.
There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, said Zechner, and there’s no guarantee he will do what he’s promised.
“There’s a lot of unknowns, but for now the markets seem to be assuming that whatever comes of this, the U.S. will continue to lead global growth,” he said.
However, some of Trump’s promises — chief among them widespread tariffs on imports — have sparked bets that inflation may rear its head again.
The market has pared back its expectations for interest rate cuts as a result, said Zechner.
“Nobody’s talking about a half-point cut, that’s for sure,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.63 cents US compared with 71.46 cents US on Wednesday.
The January crude oil contract was up US$1.35 at US$70.10 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was up nine cents at US$3.48 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$23.20 at US$2,674.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was down three cents at US$4.13 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.
HALIFAX – Uncertainty is a key theme this year at the annual, three-day gathering in Halifax of political leaders, defence officials and policy analysts who aim to promote democratic values around the globe.
The 300 delegates from 60 countries will take part in the Halifax International Security Forum, which begins Friday, less than three weeks after Donald Trump’s United States presidential election victory — a result that has raised questions about U.S. military support for the threatened democracies of Ukraine and Taiwan.
Over the past two years, Trump has repeatedly taken issue with the almost $60 billion in assistance to Ukraine provided by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, and he’s made vague vows to end the war. The president-elect has also been unclear if his upcoming administration would defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China, and has suggested the self-governed island “should pay us for defence.”
Peter Van Praagh, president of the forum, said in an interview Wednesday that in November 2016 — after Trump’s first ascent to the White House — there was “a level of shock that this could happen,” but he said this year shock has been replaced with a feeling of incertitude.
“One of the things that the president-elect Trump brings to the table is a level of uncertainty …. Now everybody is looking to reduce that uncertainty and get some type of clarity on what his priorities will be,” he said.
Van Praagh expects the speakers at the 16th forum will present evidence justifying why the Trump administration must continue Biden’s financial and military support for Ukraine, arguing that the security of democracies around the globe depends on it.
He said he’s pleased former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen will deliver a speech Saturday, which is expected to emphasize how U.S. support for Ukraine is crucial to the security of her country and its democracy.
Tsai left office in May. During her two terms in office she came under frequent attack from China for her refusal to recognize Beijing’s claim of sovereignty over the island.
Van Praagh said the politician — who remains an influential figure in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party — is expected to describe how the threat from China isn’t isolated from the conflict in Central Europe. “All of these things are connected. Ukrainian security is connected with security in eastern Asia,” he said.
Van Praagh said he hopes speakers at the forum help to influence members of the U.S. congressional delegation on the importance of backing Taiwan and Ukraine.
In 2016, former Republican Sen. John McCain was a prominent and influential figure in Washington, and he regularly attended the Halifax security forum — bringing the ideas he heard back to the Senate. An award has been given out in his name at the forum each year since he died in 2018.
This year, two Republican senators, James Risch of Idaho — who may chair the influential foreign relations committee after Trump takes office — and Mike Rounds from South Dakota are attending as part of the U.S. congressional delegation, along with four Democratic Party senators.
“These guys not only have a say, they have a vote,” said Van Praagh.
Risch will be a speaker at the opening session of the conference on Friday, along with Democratic Party Sen. Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire, as they discuss America’s role in the world. The opening day will also hear from Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, who will sit on a panel titled “Victory in Ukraine” alongside Rounds.
Other invited guests include Gen. Jennie Carignan, head of the Canadian Armed Forces, who will sit on a panel with U.S. Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific command, and Andrew Shearer, director of Australia’s Office of National Intelligence, on Saturday.
Many of the events over the forum’s three days, including a plenary session on threats to the Canadian Arctic from Russia and China, tie back to the conflict in Ukraine, and to whether Western democracies should continue to back the country.
“Should we succeed in Ukraine and push Russia out of Ukraine, every other international challenge becomes easier,” Van Praagh said. “If Russia succeeds, everything becomes more difficult.”
“The alternative is chaos and more war.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.
HALIFAX – It will be the luck of the draw that chooses the next councillor for a district in northern Cape Breton after two candidates earned the same number of votes in a recent municipal election.
Amy MacKinnon and Wanda Hennick both received 145 votes on Oct. 19 in the district that includes the Victoria County communities of Dingwall, Aspy Bay and Bay St. Lawrence. To break the tie, the winner will be chosen on Friday by random draw — a selection process stipulated in the Nova Scotia Municipal Elections Act.
Hennick said the voting results were a “shock” to everyone in the district. The random draw is undemocratic, she said, and makes some people in her district feel like their votes won’t count. The winner should be determined in a byelection, she added.
“I’m not happy about it,” she said in an interview. “We owe our constituents an actual election. They didn’t vote to have someone’s name pulled out of a box. If that was the case, why didn’t they do that from the beginning? They feel like their votes were taken from them.”
MacKinnon couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Each province has its own rules about what to do if a municipal election ends in a tie. Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick follow the same procedure as Nova Scotia. In Prince Edward Island, a coin-flip determines the winner, while in Ontario, the deciding vote is cast by the returning officer.
Blair Gallop, Victoria County’s returning officer, says the Oct. 19 election isn’t the only time a tie has been recorded in Nova Scotia municipal politics; in 1979, Harvey Lewis became mayor of Louisbourg after his name was picked from a hat.
Hennick said she will travel to Sydney, N.S., for the recount, though she initially thought about boycotting it. Regardless of Friday’s outcome, she thinks her district will be in good hands.
“It’s 50-50. We’re both strong women in this district and we do a lot for our community here, so I feel confident if I don’t get (elected), the district is going to be looked after very well with Amy. If I win, then perfect.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.
