Alberta, Saskatchewan, Atlantic provinces join forces against new Ottawa fuel regulation

Ottawa’s new fuel regulations are not going down well with six provinces as Alberta becomes the latest member to join forces with Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada to oppose the new measure, which takes effect July 1.

Two days before the Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) went into effect, Rebecca Schulz, Alberta’s Minister of the Environment and Protected Areas, said, wrote to Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, calling on his government to “immediately halt” implementation of the new policy.

Schulz said the policy “will harm provincial economies” in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada.

“Canadians are already struggling with high inflation. Throwing fuel on the fire by raising the cost of gasoline and diesel will be devastating,” she said in her June 29 letter.

“A plan that unfairly increases costs for families and does not take regional differences into account is not a plan at all.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith supported her minister.

“We need to push back the federal government on all the things that make life more unaffordable for Albertans,” she told the media after speaking to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Calgary on June 29, reported by the Calgary announces.

Double cost Whammy

Guilbeault’s department has estimated that the CFR, when fully implemented by 2030, will raise the price of gasoline by up to 17 cents per liter and that of diesel by 16 cents per liter.

On top of the federal carbon tax, which will add in between 37 cents And 40 cents to a liter of gasoline by 2030 based on various estimates, this means that consumers could pay nearly 60 cents more per liter by 2030.

The rationale for the CFR, according to Guilbeault’s department, is that it will help to delete up to 26 megatons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, which is equivalent to removing approximately two weeks’ worth of greenhouse gases from the Canadian economy.

The situation is particularly heated on Canada’s east coast, as July 1 is also the same day the four Atlantic provinces transition from their provincial carbon pricing systems to that of the federal system, creating a double cost for people at gas stations.

The prime ministers of the four provinces have requested a postponement of the rollout of CFR. In a joint statement on May 25, they said July 1 enforcement will increase inflation and their jurisdictions will be disproportionately affected.

“These increases will further increase inflationary pressures, which will increase the cost of other goods imported into the region,” they said.

Saskatchewan Prime Minister Scott Moe joined their campaign in June, also calling on Guilbeault to hold off on implementing the CFR.

“I agree with my Atlantic counterparts, Prime Ministers of Atlantic Canada, who have called on the Federal Minister to postpone the implementation of this to ensure that the Minister consults properly and appropriately,” he said. CBC news.

“The clean fuel standard can have quite a disproportionate impact in different parts of the country.”

‘The highest costs’

Guilbeault said in a statement May 26 that the increased profits of refiners in the Atlantic region mean they now don’t have to pass the cost of the new regulations onto consumers.

On May 18, the minister criticized an analysis by Yves Giroux, who highlighted the economic impact of CFR in his report.

Guilbeault said the PBO report was “unbalanced” and “incomplete” because it “fails to recognize the costs of climate change to Canadians,” and that the report draws “conclusions on the price impact that are significantly larger” than the numbers his department provided to the budget officer.

Giroux’s report estimated that the CFR would hit Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador with “the highest cost”.

Giroux estimates that the cost increase for the average Alberta household will be $1,157 by 2030. As for Saskatchewan, households will cost an additional $1,117 on average. In Atlantic Canada, households in Newfoundland and Labrador ($850), Nova Scotia ($635), Prince Edward Island ($569) and New Brunswick ($501) will similarly get more out of their pockets by then.

“Since lower-income households generally spend a higher proportion of their income on transport and other energy-intensive goods and services compared to higher-income households, the Clean Fuel Regulations will, on average, have a greater impact on these households,” said Giroux in a May. 18 press release.

Noé Chartier, Peter Wilson and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.