As the prairies hunker down and shiver through the first extended cold snap of the winter, we are sorting through an odd assortment of New Year’s gifts, most notably in the energy sector. Be a little bit thankful that we don’t live in Ontario.
Residents of Canada’s most populated province will now pay several hundred additional dollars this year to run their vehicles, and heat their homes, especially if they choose to heat with already over-priced Hydro. With Justin Trudeau applauding from the sidelines, Premier Kathleen Wynne and her fellow Liberal who runs Quebec have partnered on a ‘cap and trade’ scheme that even Al Gore would have trouble explaining.
Out west in Alberta, it’s a brand new tax on carbon. Please tell me why Rachel Notley doesn’t just bite the bullet and impose a sales tax like every other province in this land?
It looks like the days of a dollar a litre at the gas pump may be over once and for all, but it seems we’re all being penalized because of what’s happening in Ontario and Alberta.
In both Regina and Winnipeg, gas went up a full dime this past week, about the same amount as the impact of those taxes. But Saskatchewan and Manitoba aren’t following Justin’s climate change strategy or anyone elses, and the jump at the pump can only be described as ‘opportunism’ by big oil.
If you want a longer phrase try ‘because they can’, and indeed they always do. Brad Wall and his Manitoba amigo Brian Pallister went their own way at the most recent meeting of first ministers. They refused to sign on to climate change. In Pallister’s case, the move was designed to broker a better deal on health care. Good luck!
The Premiers were barely out of town when the Feds were cutting one on one health deals with the Atlantic provinces.
Hey, it’s 2017 and we need that good old Bonspiel Thaw before we all turn blue!
I’m Roger Currie
