Taxpayers federation looking to province, Ottawa, for relief at the pumps

Yet another call is coming for the federal government to extend its holiday on the 10 cent/litre fuel tax, this time from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Speaking to reporters outside a gas station in Regina, Gage Haubrich, the federation’s prairie director, said taxes are currently adding up to as much as $30 when filling up a pickup truck – and that’s without the federal tax.

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“Polling commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation shows that a majority of the country want the government to keep the tax cut, and nowhere is that opposition more than in the prairie provinces, where we see more people want to keep the federal gas tax cut,” he said.

Haubrich outlined the breakdown in taxes on every litre of gasoline: 15 cents in provincial tax, seven cents within federal fuel regulations and 7.7 cents for the goods and services tax.

The break in the federal fuel tax took effect on April 20, saving people 10 cents per litre of gasoline and four cents per litre of diesel.

At the time, Prime Minister Mark Carney called it a “responsible, temporary measure,” though the Conservative Party of Canada said it didn’t go far enough and called for not just the excise tax but the GST on fuel to be suspended for the rest of the year.

The Conservatives also want the clean fuel standard and industrial carbon tax to be ended permanently.

Last week, Ontario premier Doug Ford wrote to Carney asking the prime minister to make the fuel tax suspension permanent, or at least to extend it until the end of 2026.

Haubrich said the federal tax break benefits drivers even if prices go up.

“Gas prices have leveled out a little bit recently, but we’ve seen even the past couple of months, something changes in the Middle East, gas prices shoot up again,” he said.

“Now is not the time to raise gas taxes on people just looking to get to work and to everything else important in their lives.”

The federation is also calling for relief from the provincial government’s fuel excise tax, echoing a call made by the Saskatchewan NDP in April.

Premier Scott Moe said at the time that his government has gone a different route with affordability measures. He has also said that the revenue from the fuel tax is needed to pay for highway maintenance.

Haubrich pointed out that revenue goes into the general revenue fund, adding that a fuel tax holiday is simple to run and doesn’t require any additional bureaucracy.

He also pointed out that Saskatchewan will see greater revenues due to rising crude oil prices, and said the provincial government should find a way to give some of that revenue back to residents.

“They often can’t control what’s going on in the whole economy,” Haubrich said. “They can control how much they take out of your wallet every year and every month.”

In a statement, the Office of federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the government has already taken steps to make life more affordable, including the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit and the removal of the consumer carbon tax.

“The government will continue to pursue measures with the provinces that advance our growth and competitiveness agenda, lower costs and the sources of them, and respond to the challenging global economic environment Canada and indeed the world finds itself in right now,” the statement said.