Ottawa, ON – Today, the Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Official Opposition, sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney calling for the immediate suspension of gas taxes:
Prime Minister,
As gas prices surge, families are paying more every time they fill up to get to work, take their kids to hockey or keep their business on the road. But the rising oil prices have been a massive windfall for your government. According to former Liberal top economic adviser, Tyler Meredith, every $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil brings roughly $2 billion in additional revenue for the federal government.
With oil trading roughly $45 to $50 higher than the pre-war baseline, your government stands to collect close to $9 or $10 billion in additional annual revenue if these prices are sustained. That is a result of increased income tax paid by the oil industry from higher profits. The result is that the federal government will collect more from higher oil prices than it would cost to suspend federal fuel taxes for the rest of the year.
You should use $5 billion of the estimated $9 billion in additional revenue to remove all federal taxes on gas and diesel, giving Canadians a relief at the pumps until the end of 2026.
That means:
- Suspending the federal fuel excise tax;
- Suspending the GST on gas and diesel; and
- Permanently eliminating the so-called clean fuel standard tax and industrial carbon tax.
Taken together, that would save Canadians about 25 cents per litre on gasoline and 21 cents per litre on diesel. It would save roughly $20 every time a parent fills up a minivan, and more than $1,200 for a family of four by the end of the year.
This would not only help drivers. Lower diesel prices would reduce the cost of shipping food, homebuilding materials and other essential goods across the country, lowering costs throughout the economy.
You have said you are “following” gas prices closely, but Canadians need you to lower them.
Other countries have already cut fuel taxes when global prices spiked. Canada should do the same.
The case is even stronger because your own government will still collect additional revenue from these higher prices. If oil prices moderate later this year, as forecasters expect, then the windfall may be smaller than estimated elsewhere. In that case, I can suggest you other savings (like cancelling the $90 billion ALTO project or cutting the $26 billion you spend on consultants) to afford Canadians a break at the pumps.
Canadians have been pinching their pennies long enough. It is time for your bloated government to pinch pennies for a change. This is no time for greedy government to fill its pockets while making the people poor. If your government is going to take in billions from rising oil prices, the least you can do is give that money back to the families and businesses who pay the bills in this country.
Suspend the taxes. Give Canadians a break.