Steve Clark says the federal government needs to end the carbon tax to help people in our region deal with the rising cost of living.
MyPrescottNow.com contacted Clark, our region’s MPP, for comment on the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit’s Nutritious Food Basket report, which outlined increases in rent and food prices locally.
According to the report, the average family of four in Leeds and Grenville only has $87 per month for living expenses after paying for rent and a month’s worth of food.
Clark says the federal carbon tax is another factor affecting affordability for people in our area.
“Just this year alone the federal carbon tax is adding about $290 to the average household’s annual natural gas bill, or more than $24 a month,” he says. “The same goes for households that heat with propane, which are already paying $250 in carbon taxes alone for home heating this year.”
In rural areas like much of the Leeds-Grenville region, Clark says, people’s options for heating their homes are limited.
He says that’s why the province has put forward a motion calling for the federal government to eliminate the carbon tax.
“While our government has reduced the gas tax, removed fees for license plate renewals, ended tolls on the 412 and 418 and more, we can only do so much to make life more affordable for Ontario families,” he says. “We need to see the federal government end the carbon tax.”
In October, the federal government announced that heating oil would be exempt from the carbon tax for three years. Clark says 2.5 percent of Ontarians heat their homes with oil.
The federal Conservative party put forward a motion earlier this month to pause the tax on all home heating earlier this month, but it failed. Even if it was passed, the motion was non-binding, meaning the government wouldn’t have to act on it.