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.
OTTAWA – Ottawa police say two people were arrested this morning after an “unlawful” demonstration outside Stornoway, the official residence the Opposition leader.
Greenpeace Canada says its activists blocked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s house and two of them locked themselves to a replica oil pumpjack placed in the driveway.
The non-profit has been critical of Poilievre’s climate change voting record and his advocacy for the oil and gas sector.
Ottawa police say in a statement that about 12 people gathered outside Stornoway shortly after 7 a.m., blocking access to the residence with a “structure” and “not allowing the family to pass.”
Police say two of the demonstrators refused to comply with “repeated” orders to remove themselves from the structure and were arrested.
They say charges are pending against the two men who were due to appear in court today.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.
HALIFAX – If Nova Scotia’s Liberal Party is elected to govern on Tuesday, leader Zach Churchill says that within the first 100 days he would call for a meeting of the Atlantic premiers to discuss replacing the federal carbon tax.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday at Liberal campaign headquarters in Halifax, Churchill said he would try to sell the other premiers on his plan to use a regional cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions.
Churchill has said newly elected New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is interested in the idea, though she has yet to commit to such a plan. He said there’s an opportunity persuade Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Mark Furey.
“We know it isn’t the right policy for pollution pricing in Atlantic Canada,” said Churchill, who has distanced himself from Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government introduced the carbon price.
“We’ve got four governments that do not want the carbon tax, and we have an alternative that can lower prices at the pump while doing our part to reduce emissions.”
He acknowledged that if the federal Liberals lose the election slated for next year, the carbon tax will likely be eliminated, negating the need for a cap-and-trade system.
Churchill said that within 100 days of taking office, a provincial Liberal government would also alert Ottawa to its plan to reduce the harmonized sales tax to 13 per cent from 15 per cent; appoint a minister of women’s health; and recall the legislature to table a budget with income tax cuts and plans to build 80,000 new homes.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia’s three main political leaders were scheduled Thursday to take part in a “roundtable discussion” organized by CTV News in Halifax. Churchill was expected to be joined by Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston, who is seeking a second term in office, and NDP Leader Claudia Chender.
The 90-minute exchange, moderated by CTV News anchor Todd Battis, is to be televised at 6:30 p.m. local time.
Last Thursday, the leaders appeared together on CBC TV, and they also sparred during an event hosted earlier this week by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.
At dissolution, the Progressive Conservatives held 34 seats in the 55-seat legislature and the Liberals held 14 seats, while the NDP had six and there was one Independent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.
Wednesday is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which focuses on trans people who have lost their lives because of violence. Here is what to know.
What is Transgender Day of Remembrance?
Transgender Day of Remembrance is marked every Nov. 20 and began in 1999 to honor Rita Hester, a trans woman who was killed in Massachusetts.
The day marks the end of Transgender Awareness Week, which is used to raise public knowledge about transgender people and the issues they face.
The Williams Institute at UCLA Law estimates that 1.6 million people in the U.S. ages 13 and older identify as transgender. And it says transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violence, including rape and assault.
Candlelight vigils, memorials and other events are held to mark the day. The Human Rights Campaign also released its annual report on deaths of transgender people in conjunction with the day.
How many transgender people have lost their lives to violence?
At least 36 transgender people have died from violence in the 12 months since the last Day of Remembrance, the Human Rights Campaign said in its annual report. Since 2013, the organization has recorded the deaths from violence of 372 victims who were transgender and gender-expansive — which refers to someone with a more flexible range of gender identity or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system.
The number of victims is likely higher because many deaths often aren’t reported or are misreported, or misgendering of the victims leads to delays in their identification.
The Human Rights Campaign said there was a slight increase from the previous year, when it identified at least 33 transgender victims of violence.
A large number of the victims tracked over the past year were young or people of color, with Black transgender women making up half of the 36 identified. The youngest victim identified was 14-year-old Pauly Likens of Pennsylvania.
Two-thirds of the fatalities involved a firearm, the organization said. Nearly a third of the victims with a known killer were killed by an intimate partner, a friend or a family member.
What is at stake politically?
This year’s remembrance follows an election where advocates say victories by President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates who focused on issues like transgender athletes dealt a setback to trans people’s rights.
It also follows a wave of measures enacted in Republican states this year restricting the rights of transgender people, especially youth.
Half the states have banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next month in a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s ban.
Advocates say the legislation and rhetoric is creating fewer safe spaces for transgender people, and they worry it could spur more violence against trans people.
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Associated Press writer Jeff McMillan in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.
