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New Brunswick Liberal leader squeezed on 2 sides over carbon taxes

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New Brunswick Liberal leader squeezed on 2 sides over carbon taxes

PC government urges Holt to call for abolition, Green leader says she’s trying to be popular

New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt finds herself being squeezed from two directions on carbon taxes after her recent call for the federal government to cancel a scheduled increase to the rate. 

The Progressive Conservative government is pushing her to go further and join them in urging Ottawa to abolish the tax altogether.

At the same time, the Green Party says she has fallen for Conservative misinformation and is pandering for votes while ignoring that rebates return most of the money to consumers.

"I think she sees this as a popular position to take," said Green Leader David Coon.

David Coon speaks to reporters in the rotunda of the New Brunswick Legislature. Green Party Leader David Coon says he thinks the Liberal leader's stance reflects what's seen as a popular decision. (Ed Hunter/CBC)

Last Friday Holt joined seven premiers, most of them Conservative, who are asking the Trudeau government to scrap a planned April 1 increase to the tax.

"At a time when so many New Brunswickers are struggling to make ends meet, it's unreasonable to ask them to pay more for a federal carbon tax increase," she wrote.

The tax will increase on April 1 from 14.3 to 17.6 cents per litre of regular unleaded gas.

Holt's statement didn't mention the rebates, which will be $760 for a New Brunswick family of four in the coming year, plus an additional $152 for rural households.

In the legislature Wednesday, Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said he was encouraged by Holt's statement, even though there was "some concern" she was flip-flopping for political gain.

"We'll give the leader of the opposition the benefit of the doubt, and we can clear this up right here and right now," Holland said, inviting her to co-sign a letter calling for the abolition of the tax.

Holt told reporters she decided to call for a freeze on the carbon tax rate because "we didn't trust that the Higgs government cared enough to do the things they could do to make life more affordable." 

She has called for the government to repeal its legislated "carbon adjustor" mechanism that allows oil companies to pass on the cost of federal clean-fuel regulations to consumers.

That charge is 3.4 cents per litre this week.

Mike Holland speaks at a news conference in Fredericton. Energy and Natural Resources Development Minister Mike Holland introduced a motion in the legislature Wednesday calling for Ottawa to abolish the tax. (Ed Hunter/CBC)

The Liberals also want the government to remove the provincial sales tax from electricity bills, something it has so far refused to do.

Holland introduced a non-binding motion in the legislature Wednesday that would call for Ottawa to abolish the tax. MLAs will vote on it at a later date.

Holt pushed back at suggestions she was flip-flopping, saying her position has not changed but acknowledging this is the first year she has called for the cancellation of the annual increase.

The policy is designed to give customers an incentive at the point of purchase to look for alternatives to fossil fuels that warm the climate. It's also intended to make large-scale renewable energy more competitive.

Last year a report by the parliamentary budget officer concluded that 80 per cent of people in the seven provinces then under the federal system would come out ahead thanks to the rebates, with people with lower incomes benefiting the most.

"We estimate that most households will see a net gain, receiving more in rebates from Climate Action Incentive payments than the total amount they pay in the federal fuel charge," the report said.

New Brunswick only joined the federal system later in 2023 so the report didn't analyze the impact here.

Holt said Wednesday she was not persuaded by that report. 

"We've seen different takes on who pays more where, so it's not clear to me how New Brunswickers … are reflected in the work," she said.

She also argued there is a "lag" between when people pay the tax and when they get their rebates. 

"Paying more now to get a rebate three months from now doesn't respond to their reality." 

The last rebate arrived in January and another one is due in April. 

Holt asked Ottawa to "suspend" the increase until 2025 but didn't say what kind of hike — if any — should happen next year. She said it's too early to tell what economic conditions will exist.

Pierre Polievre speaks to reporters Pierre Poilievre spoke to reporters at a gas station in Saint John recently, where he criticized the Liberal government's carbon tax. (Ed Hunter/CBC)

The 2023 parliamentary budget officer report also found the carbon tax adds costs to the overall economy, though that conclusion was criticized for not comparing it to the cost of doing nothing about climate change.

Last week federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre warned that if he wins the next election and scraps the federal carbon tax, a future provincial Liberal government could impose its own version.

Holt wouldn't rule that out, calling the question hypothetical. 

The Liberal leader's statement last week promised "a bold made-in-New Brunswick plan that reflects our local reality and opportunities" if she becomes premier.

She said Wednesday that would include a ramping up of the electrification of more vehicles and buildings that would rely on non-emitting nuclear and hydro power from N.B. Power. 

She also said she would encourage the development of more wind, solar and hydrogen power. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books about New Brunswick politics and history.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|
 
 

 

David Amos  
Methinks Holland's time would be better spent checking the work of his minions in NB Power N'esy Pas?



David Amos
Methinks Holt and Higgy should recall why I don't trust anything the Green Party leader says about anything N'esy Pas?
 
 
David Amos 
"In the legislature Wednesday, Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said he was encouraged by Holt's statement, even though there was "some concern" she was flip-flopping for political gain.

"We'll give the leader of the opposition the benefit of the doubt, and we can clear this up right here and right now," Holland said, inviting her to co-sign a letter calling for the abolition of the tax."

Why should she put things in writing? Didn't Mikey's boss advise differently?

How to keep secrets from the public: Don't write anything down

Public servants in N.B. don't have to document their work, something advocates want done across Canada

Karissa Donkin · CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2022 6:00 AM ADT

"New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs stood alone at the podium on the afternoon of July 15, when he announced major changes to the province's health-care leadership.

In the span of a few minutes, Higgs dropped three bombshells: he shuffled out the province's health minister, fired the CEO of Horizon Health Network, and dismissed elected board members for both health authorities, replacing them with trustees."

"But when CBC News filed a right to information request to the Office of the Premier, asking for records about the premier's decision to make changes to health-care leadership, a search returned no records — nothing to help explain to the public how Higgs arrived at such a significant decision.

It's one of several examples of instances where the Higgs government failed to document its work, something public servants in New Brunswick aren't required to do by law.

The concept is called duty to document, and it's something transparency advocates have been calling for in Canada for years."

 
 
 
Don Corey
Oh my, yet another Liberal with the common sense to realize that the carbon tax adds to the weekly costs of running a household; and, to her credit, has the intestinal fortitude (unlike most of the Liberals who actually agree with her) to speak up. 
 
 
Allan Marven
Reply to Don Corey 
We'll see you at confederation bridge April 1 
 
 
David Amos 
Reply to Don Corey
CBC News obtained records detailing the process behind a letter Natural Resources and Energy Development Mike Holland sent to the Energy and Utilities Board, but they don't reveal how the issue came to the government's attention in the first place.

Too bad so sad that Mikey does not have any intestinal fortitude to expose his boss 

 

Don Corey
Reply toAllan Marven 
Nice to know you'll be going too. 
 
 
Don Corey
Reply toDavid Amos   
Perhaps he doesn't want to do anything that would not bode well for any future political aspirations he might have. 

 
Ralph Linwood
Reply to Don Corey
Few people "run a household" they just do the same thing they have always done and wonder why they have less money. How many households make sure the washer is full, no half loads, have a programmable thermostat, check all door seals and caulking annually to eliminate heat loss, and dozens of other things people with common sense used to do to save money?
 
 
Don Corey
Reply toRalph Linwood
Have to done many surveys to confirm your assertion that few of us actually know how to "properly" run a household?
 
 
Ralph Linwood
Reply to Don Corey
From all the complaining about how expensive it is too live here and observing people wasting energy and money like it is cheaper than free, it seems few have any idea. Typical Canadian: lets move 100 kms away from where we work, where there are no services, so we can buy a $30,000 compact tractor to mow the grass we don't use and plow the snow in the winter to access our empty 3000 square foot house and then complain about the price of fuel and heat. Sounds about right? Add a UTV and a couple sleds to putter around with as well.

 
 
 
 
SarahRose Werner 
"Paying more now to get a rebate three months from now doesn't respond to their reality." - Paying $92 over the course of three months and then getting it back at the end of the three months if not something I find to be a major problem.
 
 
Don Corey 
Reply toSarahRose Werner
It may not concern you, but it sure does all the families and individuals who are (through no fault of their own) spending more over than the rebate over that 3 month period because of the carbon tax. Contrary to the narrative of the Ottawa spin doctors, the majority of Canadians (other than city dwellers who can take advantage of public transit, and all those who can get by without a vehicle) are in the same boat. You must be one of those who benefits from the Liberal income redistribution scheme.  
 
 
David Amos 
Reply to Don Corey 
Ditto
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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