The expectation is we should all see immediate relief at the pumps today as the consumer carbon price is officially set to zero.
Liberal leader Mark Carney, shortly after winning the party's leadership race, signed an order in council making the removal official April 1st. The carbon price came with a quarterly rebate to offset the cost of inflation; the final rebate will come in April.
According to analysis released by Desjardins Economics about two weeks ago, the change means drivers in provinces using federal carbon pricing, like Manitoba, should notice a drop of almost 18 cents per litre of gasoline, or about $9 less to fill a 50 L tank. As of Tuesday morning, gasoline prices in the Altona, Winkler and Morden area were around $1.38/litre
The consumer levy is charged on the purchase of more than two dozen input fuels including gasoline, natural gas, propane and coal. The amount of the charge is based on the greenhouse gas emissions of each when burned, sitting at $85 per tonne currently.
In a news release issued by Manitoba Hydro, the Crown Corporation noted a typical Manitoba household paid about $338 in Federal Carbon Charge on natural gas for the year. As of today, there will be no consumer carbon price on natural gas used by Manitoba Hydro customers. Federal Carbon Charges will still apply to any gas customers used before April 1st, and will show up during the next billing cycle.
The Federal Conservatives have suggested the Liberals could re-implement the consumer carbon price, if they were to win the election, because the method used to reduce it to zero was through an order in council, noting the legislation implementing and governing the carbon tax was not changed or repealed.
- With files from the Canadian Press -