Higgs gets chance to make case against the carbon tax

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Premier Blaine Higgs will make his case against the carbon tax to a federal legislative committee on Thursday, just four days before an increase comes into effect that will cause gas prices to rise by 3.6 cents a litre.

Late on Monday afternoon, Higgs shared a copy of a letter he’d sent to a federal finance committee, requesting that he be allowed to appear virtually this week to “make the case as to why the federal government must – at a minimum – cancel the planned increase.”

“With April 1st quickly approaching, I look forward to your prompt reply,” Higgs wrote, arguing that the increase will have “a disastrous impact on New Brunswickers, and all Canadians.”

Late on Tuesday, the province announced that Higgs will instead make a virtual appearance before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on Thursday. That committee, in part, examines “the effectiveness and proper functioning of government operations.”

Higgs’s letter was sent less than two weeks after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sent a similar note about the carbon tax, although hers was sent directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Like federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, Higgs’s ultimate goal is for the carbon tax to be scrapped.

It currently adds an extra 14.3 cents a litre to the price of gasoline, while also impacting the cost of other carbon emitting fuels, including natural gas. The tax will increase to 17.6 cents a litre on Monday.

Asked on Tuesday why he waited so long to send the letter, Higgs said he’s long made his position clear, and has been a signatory to other, earlier letters calling for the abolition of the tax.

“I’ve been pretty clear from the beginning. I did not support … the Liberal carbon tax, I don’t support it now, I don’t support the increases,” Higgs said. “I think it is a major contributor to our affordability issue.

“So this is just one more way for me to voice an opinion I’ve had from the beginning. But there are those who have not had that opinion from the beginning who are all of a sudden thinking, ‘Well maybe this is an affordability issue.'”

That was a clear reference to Liberal Leader Susan Holt, who recently called on Ottawa to delay the increase for a year, arguing that it’s “unreasonable” to ask New Brunswickers to pay more during a cost-of-living crisis. 

Speaking to reporters before Higgs announced he will appear before the committee, Holt said Higgs’s letter “looks like a political stunt.” Green party Leader David Coon made similar comments.

Trudeau, who is standing by the tax, says “nobody is talking about” the quarterly rebate cheques that Canadians are receiving. He says the cheques pay out more than most Canadians face in added fuel costs.

“It’s about being there to support Canadians during this affordability crisis and the Canada Carbon Rebate helps out 80 per cent of Canadians with more money than they pay in terms of a price on pollution,” Trudeau said.