While the pandemic is wreaking havoc on the economy is not the time for a carbon tax. That from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation which is lobbying for an end to the tax or at least a delay until the economy turns around.

Prairie Director, Aaron Wudrick, says the federal government is making life more expensive as we grapple with paying bills, by increasing the carbon tax by 50 per cent while other taxes have been deferred.

The provinces that signed on to the carbon plan have put the brakes on their hikes and other countries are doing the same. Wudrick gives the example of the 30 countries that are a part of the European Union’s cap and trade scheme, where the carbon tax rate has dropped significantly.

But the provinces that didn’t sign on, including Saskatchewan, are now facing an increase. Wudrick feels the Liberal government is tone deaf to places like Saskatchewan and Alberta which are more disproportionately impacted by this tax. He adds that Canada accounts for only 1.5 per cent of global emissions.

Both Saskatchewan and Ontario are appealing the carbon tax and it’s scheduled in the Supreme Court for September. Last May, both Saskatchewan and Ontario’s Appeal Court upheld the tax as constitutional, and then Alberta’s Court of Appeal ruled it unconstitutional in February.