The province is working on a way to avoid being penalized for reducing the gas tax.
Premier Andrew Furey says he discussed the issue with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau amid Tuesday’s Royal Visit.
There have been repeated calls to lower or eliminate the gas tax to provide some relief at the pumps. But doing so would trigger a new carbon tax on industries like agriculture and fish processing, as well as home heat.
Furey says that new tax is mandatory but not automatic, adding talks are ongoing to see if there’s a way around it.
— Brian Callahan (@briancallahan67) May 17, 2022
He says that was part of the conversation with Prime Minister Trudeau on Tuesday, to explore whether there’s any flexibility in the interpretation of the so-called federal backstop. Furey declined to say more, saying he didn’t want to distract from current talks on the issue.
The province has so far avoided messing with the gas tax and the repercussions. Instead, government put the equivalent of its share of the tax—about $142 million—into cost-of-living supports in the recent budget.
