Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe recently announced that the federal carbon tax on home heating will no longer be collected starting January 1st. Both provincial Crown corporations, SaskEnergy and SaskPower, will be discontinuing the collection of the tax on home heating bills, according to a news release from the government on December 28, 2023. Moe’s decision came after the federal government paused the carbon tax for heating oil to give Canadians more time to switch to electric heat pumps, a move which has benefited Atlantic Canada. Not happy with this decision, finance ministers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta released a joint statement urging the federal government to eliminate the carbon tax to ensure fairness.
Moreover, the premiers of these provinces called for ‘fair and equitable’ treatment, sending a joint letter to the government asking for the removal of the tax from all forms of home heating. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, however, stated that there would be no further exemptions on the carbon tax, emphasizing the intention to phase out heating oil. Meanwhile, Moe’s government introduced a bill to stop collecting the federal carbon tax on natural gas. In terms of consequences, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act stipulates fines and possible jail time for those who fail to pay the carbon tax.
Despite facing opposition from Canada’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Moe’s government had the support of the Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck who justified their actions as a means of seeking fairness in the law. The federal carbon tax will still appear on utility bills received in January but will be zero-billed, offering substantial savings to the average Saskatchewan family.