OTTAWA: The MP for Kings Hants says the N.S. government is trying to play a bit of “boogeyman” with the federal government when it comes to carbon pricing.
Kody Blois was responding to Premier Tim Houston and the provincial government who seemingly are in a tug-of-war with the feds over carbon tax implementation.
In a recent Op-Ed, Houston said expressed his profound disappointment in the decision by the Government of Canada to impose a carbon tax on Nova Scotians at a time when fuel and heating costs are at an all-time high and many Nova Scotians are struggling.
“Let me be clear – Nova Scotia supports action on climate change but doesn’t support a carbon tax of any amount on home heating oil at this time,” said Houston in the piece. “It’s incomprehensible to me that the federal government doesn’t agree.”
ADVERTISEMENT:
Blois was asked about N.B. Premier Blaine Higgs, also a Conservative Premier and how he is “rolling up his sleeves and doing the work.”
“There’s been no noise. New Brunswick has not been fighting the government of Canada. Blaine Higgs is working constructively, recognizing that he’s going to put his own system in place that best reflects New Brunswick’s realities,” said Blois. “Literally just across the Tantramar Marsh, we have a provincial government that is just doing everything in its power to fight this.
He said he doesn’t speak for his Cabinet or the federal government, but he assumes they would be willing to make those types of programs in N.B. a reality in N.S.
“We need them (the Houston government) to step up and be a part of it,” said Blois. “Otherwise, the federal backstop will apply.”
ADVERTISEMENT:
Blois said eight out of 10 families are going to get more back than what they pay in.
“I think at the end of the day, Nova Scotians, once they actually start to see cheques go into their bank account or in the mailbox, they’ll understand the premise of why this is being done,” he said.
He wanted to remind people that N.S. Finance Minister Allan McMaster opened the door to this conversation on Nov. 10 saying that the government was willing to reduce the motor fuel tax or the gas tax, but that Ottawa was standing in its way.
“Sean Fraser, our minister in Nova Scotia, rightfully highlighted we were not standing in the way and pointed to the fact that Ontario, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador, all three of those provinces have reduced their gas tax,” said Blois. “Since that time, since that clarification, we’ve heard absolutely nothing from the Houston government.”
Blois said he’s calling on the N.S. government to take action and support their fellow Nova Scotians.
“They are trying to play a bit of boogeyman on the federal government in relation to carbon pricing right now,” he said in an interview with The Laker News.
He said that Houston came into office in 2021 talking about being a progressive conservative.
“Tim Houston talked about voters of the federal Liberal Party that they could support his party because he would be a progressive type of premier,” said Blois. “What concerns me the most is what I’ve seen from our premier recently and what I’ve seen from the Nova Scotia government is not what I would call progressive.
“It’s fine that if the provincial government doesn’t like the way in which the Government of Canada has a backstop that puts money back into Nova Scotian households. They just simply threw up their hands and said, “We refuse to participate.”
Blois said that when the feds put its pricing model in place, now they scream from the rooftops that this is a bad idea.
“They could have done something themselves. They could have both opposed the fact that there was a carbon price but recognize that it is part of the legislative structure of the country,” said Blois. “They could have said we don’t agree with the approach, but we are going to do the work necessary to help support Nova Scotians, and they just haven’t done that.”
