New Democrats respond to Liberal announcement on home heating fuel

NDP Environment critic Laurel Collins and NDP Natural Resources (Jobs and Just Transition) critic Charlie Angus made the following statement on pausing the carbon tax on home heating:

“For the last two years, the rising cost of living has been devastating for Canadian families struggling to pay for their mortgages, groceries, and home heating fuel.

While the announcement today is a long-overdue reprieve for families in the Atlantic, New Democrats would like to see relief provided to families in other parts of the country who are struggling to make ends meet. The Liberals seem to be hand picking who they help based on their own political interests, leaving families in Northern Ontario, Alberta and other parts of the country behind. For months, the NDP has been urging the Liberals to drop the GST on home heating fuel to give hardworking Canadians a break on their bills. We also want to see programs like the one today for low-income families to get access to heat pumps expanded.

Instead of looking out for people, over the last eight years, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have been letting rich oil and gas CEOs off the hook by giving them carbon tax exemptions, all while they offload the costs onto Canadians who are desperately trying to keep up.

At the same time, the climate crisis has taken a turn – Canadians this summer we’re forced to flee their homes, and we’re cut off from their communities because of wildfires. People expect the government to take action to tackle this crisis.

But instead, Justin Trudeau delayed, and handed out money to Canada’s biggest polluters. If Trudeau had made the investments needed in energy efficiency, electrification and clean power years ago instead of handing over billions to Big Oil, Canadians would already see lower energy bills. And while Pierre Poilievre claims he has Canadians’ backs, we’ve seen that he would rather stack the deck even higher in favour of rich oil CEOs, laying off thousands of workers while failing to make things better for working people.

New Democrats know we need strong climate action and Canadians need more support to afford the things they need to take care of their families, that’s why were calling on the government to end the loopholes they give to big oil and gas, and make these companies pay their fair share.”