Tories push federal carbon tax as Manitoba election battlefront heats up

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This article was published 11/08/2023 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson promised a future legal battle with Ottawa over the carbon tax in her first campaign announcement ahead of the writ drop.

“It’s time that Manitobans’ clean energy is recognized,” Stefanson said Friday afternoon, backed by two dozen Tory MLAs and candidates at Florence Pierce Park in St. Vital.

“We know that Manitoba can be very hot in the summer, and we know it can be very cold in the winter. We don’t have an option not to use a furnace when its -40 C, or fans or air conditioning when its 30 C above,” she said.

“That’s why a re-elected Progressive Conservative government will stop at nothing to eliminate the carbon tax on Manitoba Hydro, including the federal government. We’ll take them to court if we need to.”

The Tory premier arrived at the Winnipeg park at the corner of St. Mary’s Road and Fermor Avenue to high-fives and cheers of “four more years” from candidates hoisting signs opposing the “NDP-Liberal carbon tax.”

The provincial election is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Stefanson said the federal government’s price on pollution is “pushing Manitoba families closer to the red” and driving up the price of essentials, including fuel and utlility bills.

“Manitoba produces 97 per cent clean, green hydro-electric power, yet the NDP and the Liberals refuse to recognize this and charge the carbon tax to Manitoba Hydro, which directly effects ratepayers in our province. We think that that’s wrong.”

Manitoba is one of four provinces with a federally imposed levy on certain fuels, including natural gas, because their own climate plans didn’t meet Ottawa’s targets.

According to the federal government, 80 per cent of families get back more than what they pay in carbon taxes through its climate action incentive payments.

Manitoba Hydro paid $114 million in carbon tax on natural gas in 2021-22, according to its annual report.

The province abandoned efforts to develop a carbon pricing regime within Ottawa’s framework in 2018, and instead launched a legal challenge of the federal government’s imposition of a “backstop” carbon tax under then-premier Brian Pallister.

Manitoba argued Ottawa should not have imposed a rising minimum price on carbon because the province was planning its own emissions plan. A Federal Court judge rejected the province’s argument in October 2021; weeks later, Stefanson announced Manitoba would not appeal the decision.

At the time, Stefanson said she intended to “reset” the relationship with the federal government and take a collaborative approach to addressing climate change.

The province also indicated it was developing its own policy approach to carbon pricing and planned to present a levy to Ottawa for consideration.

On Friday, Stefanson said she will do “whatever it takes to fight for Manitobans,” when asked why she is straying from the collaborative approach she previously championed.

“We’ve been hearing loud and clear from Manitobans that they don’t like this carbon tax, and especially they don’t like to see it on their Hydro bills, and that’s why we’re here today.”

Stefanson offered no alternative to the federal government’s carbon pricing backstop, saying Manitoba Hydro-generated electricity is already clean and green.

“We are 97 per cent of the way there already. Manitobans have been working hard to get us there. We think that they should be recognized for their hard work, and that’s why we’re standing here today fighting for Manitobans,” she said.

The premier said the Manitoba NDP will not stand up against the carbon tax and alleged the party’s policies — including a promised electricity rate freeze — would be disastrous for Manitoba Hydro.

NDP finance critic and St. James MLA Adrien Sala said the Tories are pledging to waste taxpayer dollars with another desperate legal challenge.

“Manitobans want a government that will fight the climate crisis, not pointless legal battles,” Sala said. “The PCs wasted millions of taxpayer dollars fighting the federal carbon tax in the past and they lost.

“That’s not standing up for Manitobans. That’s being very irresponsible with scarce and valuable public dollars.”

Sala said Manitobans deserve a government focused on reducing energy costs through investments in energy efficiency and keeping electricity rates low.

“If Heather Stefanson is re-elected, she’ll keep wasting taxpayer dollars in court and she’ll keep making life more expensive by raising Hydro rates and using tools like surge pricing to make you pay a lot more for energy when you need it most.”

— with files from The Canadian Press

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca