Amid global heat records, Higgs renews call for elimination of federal carbon tax

Higgs renews call for elimination of carbon tax New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is renewing calls for the elimination of the federal carbon tax.

In a rare weekend statement, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has renewed calls for the federal government to rescind both the carbon tax and clean fuel regulations.

The statement comes days ahead of the national meeting of provincial premiers in Winnipeg, where the newly-implemented taxes in Atlantic Canada are sure to be on the front-burner.

Claiming that New Brunswickers “are receiving conflicting information” about the changes, Higgs placed the blame squarely on the federal government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party.

Higgs pointed out that the Atlantic provinces have changed how regulators set maximum fuel prices in order to save small businesses from absorbing “the additional cost of the federal government’s new regulations.”

“In rural New Brunswick, there may only be one gas station that is family owned,” said Higgs. “They need to be able to recover these costs or they won’t be in a financial position to continue providing fuel to their community and ultimately may be forced to shut down.”

But Higgs’ efforts to cast blame onto the feds conflict with the fact that his Progressive Conservative government failed to deliver a provincial carbon-pricing plan of its own.

That means Atlantic Premiers have known for years that a carbon tax would be implemented if provinces failed to provide a plan that meets federal requirements.

“I and my fellow premiers in Atlantic Canada continue to call on the federal government to recognize the differences in our region and rescind these extra taxes while inflation remains so high,” said Higgs.