Carbon tax making life harder

By Chantelle de Jonge Chestermere-Strathmore MLA

I hope all those celebrating had a wonderful Father’s Day with their families this weekend. Since being back from session, I continue to meet residents across our constituency and attend many community celebrations.

This past week, it was confirmed again that the carbon tax is continuing to make life harder and more expensive for Albertans and Canadians. This year alone, families will be shelling out an additional $700 for groceries. What’s worse, however, is that according to the federal government’s own numbers, the carbon tax is costing Canadians an extra $1,200 annually and making an outrageous $20 billion-a-year dent in the national economy.

These figures were released last week by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) after years of being hidden from the public. Shockingly, this disclosure came to light only after it was revealed that the Prime Minister’s office had imposed a gag order on the PBO, in an effort to silence any attempts to inform Canadians about the true costs of the carbon tax.

While our government has been working hard to keep taxes low and life affordable in Alberta, the federal carbon tax has made everything more expensive for businesses and families. The agricultural sector, in particular, which is vital to Alberta’s economy, has been hit hard. Farmers face steep carbon tax bills for heating their barns, running their pivots, and drying their grain and will pay billions of dollars over the next several years. This financial burden jeopardizes their livelihoods, and it threatens to drive up food prices even further.

It’s clear that the carbon tax does not deliver an appropriate return on investment for Canadians and that the Federal government should pivot to different policies for addressing the economy and environment. Scrapping the carbon tax would be a decisive step in making life more affordable for Canadians and building a better economic future.

In another development, it was announced last week that Alberta’s government is providing grants to rural and remote municipalities to support new road, bridge, community airport, and water infrastructure projects. More than $236 million in grants will support 125 local transportation and water infrastructure projects in small and rural communities across Alberta, which will create hundreds of jobs and support growing communities. This funding is critical to ensuring Alberta communities have safe and efficient local roads, bridges, and community airports to attract further investment and improve travel safety.

Over the last couple weeks, you may have passed the construction work along Highway 1 at the Inverlake Overpass (Range Road 270). This work, totaling $3.4 million, was announced in Budget 2023 and continued funding was provided through Budget 2024 earlier this year. As part of our government’s provincewide efforts to repair aging bridge infrastructure, Alberta Infrastructure will be removing the old bridges over the abandoned CPR rail line and filling in that area. This work is anticipated to be completed by end of August. 

Alberta’s government also announced that it is providing rural communities with more than $3.2 million in grants for local projects that drive innovation and growth in rural areas through the Small Community Opportunity Program. Through Budget 2023, the program has awarded grants between $20,000 and $100,000 for 43 community-led projects that build capacity in agriculture, small business supports, and local economic development.

For more information on these grants, please reach out to my office (Chestermere.Strathmore@assembly.ab.ca).

(Chantelle de Jonge is the MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore and the Parliamentary Secretary for Affordability and Utilities)