From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

‘I cannot accept the Federal Government giving an affordability break to people in one part of Canada, but not here,’ the Saskatchewan premier said in an announcement on Monday.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe put Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on notice today by saying his province will stop collecting a federal carbon tax on natural gas used to heat homes come January 1, 2024, unless it gets a similar tax break that Atlantic Canadian provinces just got from the federal government for heating their homes.  

“So, the Prime Minister chose to make life more affordable for families in one part of the country while leaving Saskatchewan families out in the cold. How is that fair to families here in our province, where affordability is also an issue, where winters are cold, and where most of us use natural gas to stay warm?” said Moe in a video posted today to X (formerly Twitter).  

“I cannot accept the Federal Government giving an affordability break to people in one part of Canada, but not here. So today I am calling on the Federal Government to offer the same carbon tax exemption to Saskatchewan families by extending it to all forms of home heating, not just heating oil.” 

Moe said that Trudeau should give Saskatchewan a tax break, as this is only “fair” for “Saskatchewan and Canadian families.” 

“Hopefully that exemption will be provided soon,” he said.  

Moe then turned up the heat on Trudeau. He said that if Trudeau does not give his province the same break as Atlantic provinces, “effective January 1st, Sask Energy will stop collecting and submitting the carbon tax on natural gas, effectively providing Saskatchewan residents with the very same exemption that the federal government is giving heating oil in Atlantic Canada.” 

Moe said that while the federal government may say what he is contemplating doing is “illegal and that you simply cannot choose to collect and pay your taxes,” which he added in “most” cases he would “agree with,” it’s the “federal government that has created two classes of taxpayer, by providing an exemption for heating with an exemption that really only applies in one part of the country and effectively excludes Saskatchewan.”

Moe said that his job as premier is to make sure “Saskatchewan residents are treated fairly and equally with our fellow Canadians in other parts of the country.” 

“And that’s what I am doing today,” he added.  

Moe said the “real solution” for the entire issue with high heating bills thanks to a carbon tax is for the “federal government to scrap the entire carbon tax on everyone and everything.” 

As it currently stands, provinces collect the carbon tax on behalf of the federal government. 

Late last week, amid dismal polling numbers that show his government will be defeated in a landslide by the Conservative Party come the next election, Trudeau announced he was pausing the collection of the carbon tax on home heating oil in Atlantic Canadian provinces for three years.

However, while making the announcement, Trudeau said the goal of the pause was to encourage locals to ditch their home heating oil units for electric heat pumps and said his government would be giving out free pumps to many homeowners.  

LifeSiteNews reported earlier this month how Trudeau’s carbon tax is costing Canadians hundreds of dollars annually, as government rebates it gives out are not enough to compensate for high fuel costs.  

As it stands now, Canadians who live in a province that does not have their own carbon tax scheme fall under the federal carbon pricing scheme and pay $65 per tonne. The Trudeau government has a goal of $170 per tonne by 2030, however.  

This will increase the costs of everything. A recent report revealed that a carbon tax of more than $350 per tonne is needed to reach Trudeau’s net zero goals by 2050.  

Moe and Alberta Premier Smith blast Trudeau as ‘danger’ to confederation  

Over the weekend, both Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who also opposes the carbon tax, blasted Trudeau as being a danger to the confederation, after his Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings said those provinces “need to elect more Liberals in the Prairies so that we can have that conversation as well.” 

Smith and Moe said that Hutchings’ comments show the carbon tax has nothing to do with the environment but is all about “politics.”  

Saskatchewan is not alone in opposing Trudeau’s carbon tax and “net zero” environmental goals.  

Both it and Alberta have repeatedly promised to place the interests of their people above the Trudeau government’s “unconstitutional” demands while consistently reminding the federal government that their infrastructures and economies depend upon oil, gas, and coal.  

The Trudeau government’s current environmental goals – in lockstep with the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” – include phasing out coal-fired power plants, reducing fertilizer usage, and curbing natural gas use over the coming decades.