Keep the gas tax savings going

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This article was published 16/01/2024 (857 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Good news!

(For now.)

On Jan. 1, Premier Wab Kinew cut the 14-cent-per-litre provincial fuel tax for gasoline and diesel.

However, Kinew has only committed to keeping the cut around for six months. The provincial government needs to keep these savings around for the long haul.

Because it’s already saving drivers money.

At the end of December, gas in Winnipeg averaged $1.30 per litre. Now, it’s priced at $1.15 per litre.

Compare that to Manitoba’s western counterparts. In Regina, gas is about $1.30 per litre, In Victoria it’s $1.67 and in Edmonton it’s $1.19.

The government’s official numbers say the average two-car family will be saving about $250 over six months, but that underestimates what many Manitobans can expect to save.

Think of a two-car family who fills up a sedan once a week and a minivan every two weeks by driving to work and taking the kids to hockey practice in the evening. That family will save at least $342 over the course of the six-month cut. If you drive a truck or have a longer commute you’ll save even more.

But doesn’t this tax cut only help people who can afford cars?

While it’s true not everyone drives, the cost of driving still affects everyone.

With the fuel tax cut, a trucker, the person who drives a big rig and hauls all the goods you want to the stores you buy them in, is saving about $63 per fill up, per tank. That makes it cheaper to haul those goods and it can mean cheaper prices for you.

Canada Post charges you more to ship a package depending on the price of diesel. Ride-share apps have introduced fuel surcharges in the past when gas prices were increasing.

Keeping fuel prices low means savings for everyone. With the Trudeau government planning to jack up its carbon tax at the pumps every year until 2030, Kinew needs to do everything he can to keep fuel as affordable as possible.

Currently, the carbon tax costs 14 cents per litre of gasoline, the exact amount offset by the provincial gas tax cut. But come April, that cost jumps to 18 cents per litre. By 2030, it will be 37 cents per litre and cost the average Manitoba household $1,490 per year, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. That cost is net, with the rebates included.

While Kinew’s gas tax cut won’t fully offset the cost of the carbon tax, it sure will help.

Kinew knows the carbon tax makes life more unaffordable. He is standing with most of the country’s premiers and asking the feds for a carbon tax carve-out on home heating. The same logic can be applied to gasoline and diesel. The premier must shield Manitobans from the cost of the carbon tax.

Manitoba taxpayers can’t take these savings for granted. The gas tax cut is scheduled to end in June. But it’s a good bet that life won’t suddenly be more affordable in six months time and families won’t need the extra $342 in their pockets.

This gas tax cut needs to stay for good.

Alberta had a fluctuating fuel tax cut for two years and because of that, the lowest fuel prices in the country.

But the Alberta government just partially hiked its fuel taxes back up Jan. 1. This is stealing away savings from Albertans looking for any way to make life more affordable.

Manitobans can’t let their gas tax cut get away.

Getting the gas tax relief is great first step to make life more affordable, but now its time to make sure that the cut is here to stay.

Gage Haubrich is the prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.