Furey asks Trudeau to halt carbon tax increase, citing few options for consumers in N.L.

Premier Andrew Furey shared an open letter Tuesday addressed to the prime minister, asking him to delay an upcoming increase to the carbon tax until inflation stabilizes.

Furey wrote the Newfoundland and Labrador government is "deeply invested in environmental sustainability," but says the tax increase of almost 25 per cent, slated for April 1, will add to residents' financial burdens.

This isn't the first time Furey has asked for the tax to be removed or frozen. He says he doesn't think the tax is the right way to encourage people to choose renewable energy options.

"The issue for this particular tax is there are limited options to change right now in Newfoundland and Labrador," he said.

The tax is meant to encourage people to shift from carbon-based to renewable energy options, but Furey argues the province doesn't have the right infrastructure, such as extensive options for electric vehicles, to support that change.

"In the absence of the ability to change, what does the tax really accomplish?" Furey said Tuesday afternoon.

Other provinces don't have the carbon tax and employ different approaches, he said, adding that the provincial government has indicated its openness to using other strategies that "don't punish people."

The amount taxed on gasoline, for example, is $0.1431 per litre. The April 1 tax increase will raise it to $0.1761.

Jesse Bartsoff, a spokesperson for the deputy prime minister's office, says the tax will benefit Canadians and account for nearly one-third of Canada's emissions reductions by 2030.

Furey is the seventh premier calling on Trudeau to halt the increase, joining premiers in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia. 

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston also sent Trudeau a letter on Tuesday, calling the increase "unfair and misguided."

What to do instead

While Furey is rejecting the tax as a policy, he says he's not against its intention. "That's not suggesting that there's not an environmental imperative or that we don't have a role to play in climate change," he said.

Furey's solution is to focus on working with industries, like the province's offshore petroleum industry, to reduce their carbon emissions and using government revenue to build the electric infrastructure required to move away from oil and gas sources.

In his letter, Furey didn't ask that the tax be removed but to hold off until the economy is more stable and incomes have caught up to the rising cost of living.

"While we have seen some reduction of inflation, we haven't seen a cut in the interest rates and we haven't really had time in the economy to breathe in the stabilization of inflation," he told reporters.

"So I'd like to see all of those things happen."

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