Steepest tax increase in Nova Scotia history, says Archie Stewart
HALIFAX, NS – Progressive Conservative leader Jamie Baillie is deeply concerned by the impact of Premier McNeil’s carbon pricing scheme on the cost of living in Nova Scotia.
“Premier McNeil has signed on to forcing Nova Scotians to pay more for home heating fuel and driving their car,” says Baillie. “He won’t say how much more, but it will be a lot.”
The pending carbon pricing scheme to be imposed on Nova Scotians by the McNeil government in 2018 will raise the cost of gasoline, home heating fuel and electricity costs going forward. One estimate showed carbon pricing in Nova Scotia could cost as much as $612 per household, per year. Nova Scotians are already facing at least a 6.4 per cent increase in power rates in 2020, even though it’s not clear how carbon pricing will impact electricity.
Archie Stewart from Port Hawkesbury is concerned about Premier McNeil’s carbon pricing announcement.
“This could be the steepest tax increase in Nova Scotia history,” says Stewart. “You and I will pay. And we will pay dearly. Plus, our costs go up with inflation.”
The Nova Scotia division of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association (CME) said in October that carbon pricing will add “significant costs” to doing business in the province.
“The uncertainty of these price shocks on small and medium businesses will cost us jobs,” says Baillie. “We need a common sense long-term plan to grow the economy that includes getting costs under control and provides for real job creation.”
Baillie says Premier McNeil must provide more detail about exactly what he’s proposing and how much it will cost Nova Scotia families.
“Premier McNeil cannot or will not say how much more Nova Scotians will lose when the new costs start rolling in,” says Baillie. “The impact on greenhouse gas emission will be negligible because home heating fuel and gasoline are not luxuries, they are basics. People have to heat their homes and they need to get back and forth to work.”