"It's common sense": BC premier calls out feds over heating bill break
BC’s premier is calling on the federal government to help Canadians with heating costs this winter after the province was left in the cold by a recent announcement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week that the government is placing a three-year pause on the carbon price on deliveries of heating oil in homes and rebates for homeowners who make the switch to heat pumps. Oil is more commonly used in homes in Atlantic Canada.
Trudeau also laid out savings for rural Canadians starting next year by doubling the pollution price rebate (Climate Action Incentive Payment).
However, only residents who use heating oil or who are living in rural areas of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario benefit from these new measures.
Premier David Eby argued that more savings need to be passed along to British Columbians and called it a “rushed announcement” from the feds in the Legislature during Question Period on Monday.
Eby criticized BC’s exclusion, saying that the relief is not targeted at helping people.
“Last week, we saw what was clearly a rushed announcement from the federal government. It protects a particular type of heating. It doesn’t protect people,” Eby said at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
The majority of homes in the province are powered by electricity or natural gas.
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Many residents in BC are struggling with the cost of living, with Vancouver being ranked as one of the top five unaffordable cities in the world. As such, Eby went on to call out for fairer treatment of provinces.
“Now we absolutely are pushing the federal government to ensure that the exact same treatment on the east coast applies on the west coast. It’s common sense,” he said.
As residents across BC struggle with the affordability crisis, Eby shared that the BC government is offering rebates to help with financial burdens.
“A family of four who got $500 last year will get $900 this year. A single person who got $193.50 last year will get $447 this year. It’s more than double,” he said.
BC United leader Kevin Falcon, who has promised to eliminate the carbon tax on fuel if his party forms government, was quick to argue the province did have cost-saving measures it could be taking.
“Why won’t the premier level the playing field and exempt all home heating from the carbon tax in British Columbia?”
BC’s carbon tax is unique in that it operates separately but with support from the federal government after it became the first province to implement a broad-based tax in 2008.
Therefore, federal saving initiatives do not apply in BC, even among the few homes that are using heating oil this winter.
When questioned on why the BC government is not slashing carbon taxes to help with the affordability crisis, Minister of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne shared that the government would not go back on their climate action policies to help with heating costs but instead look for solutions in rebates.
“We are going to continue to support British Columbians in the work that we know they want us to do. That is taking action on climate,” said Osborne, adding that the province is still pushing for the feds to launch a joint rebate program.
“We’re going to stay focused on people, supporting them with rebates for switching to heat pumps, for example.”
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