The BC Legislature has passed legislation eliminating the province’s consumer carbon tax.
The legislation passed around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1. About seven hours later, The Citizen observed that some Prince George gas stations had already reflected the situation, dropping their listed price around 17.5 cents per litre, while others remained the same.
Reached by email, a spokesperson for the City of Prince George said it had yet to calculate the expected savings from the end of the consumer carbon tax.
During last year’s provincial election campaign, Premier David Eby said he’d remove the carbon tax if the federal requirement for provinces to have one was removed.
Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an order-in-council ending enforcement of the consumer carbon tax after becoming leader of the Liberal Party and before calling the federal election.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, March 31, Eby said he was following through with the removal of the consumer-facing carbon tax by trying to rush a bill amending the Carbon Tax Act in just one day before the province’s next fiscal year started.
The industrial carbon tax remains in place.
With the removal of the carbon tax also comes the end of the quarterly BC climate action tax credit after one last payment on April 4.
To those worried about gas retailers keeping their prices the same after the elimination of the carbon tax, Eby said the BC Utilities Commission has powers in place to “shine a light on any gouging that takes place of British Columbians.”
“Now is not a time to be playing games with essentials for British Columbians or Canadians as a whole,” Eby said.
These are the reductions customers can expect to see:
- Gasoline will drop 17.61 cents per litre
- Natural gas, 15.25 cents per cubic metre
- Aviation fuel, 19.59 cents per litre
- Heavy fuel oil, 25.50 cents per litre
- Jet fuel, 20.74 cents per litre
- Kerosene, 20.65 cents per litre
- Methanol, 8.78 cents per litre
- Naphtha, 18.03 cents per litre
- Butane, 14.24 cents per litre
- Coke oven gas, 5.60 per cubic metre
- Ethane, 8.15 cents per litre
- Propane, 12.38 cents per litre
- Refinery gas, 17.18 cents per cubic metre
- High heat value coal, $178.48 per tonne
- Low heat value coal, $141.80 per tonne
- Coke, $254.39 per tonne
- Petroleum coke, 30.18 cents per litre
- Gas liquids, 13.31 cents per litre
- Pentanes plus, 13.24 cents per litre
- Peat, $81.76 per tonne
- Combustible waste, $159.78 per tonne
