Adjournment Debate
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise and say a few words on this debate topic brought forward by my colleague the honourable member for Northside-Westmount. I think in the motion itself is the crux of the issue: prices are skyrocketing, and they are skyrocketing for fuel in particular. We know that now, and this may change tomorrow, it will cost about $2,000 to fill a fuel tank.
I think we've talked about that a lot in this Chamber today. That's a massive amount of money. Older homes like mine that are still saddled with heating oil as a source of heat, go through more than a tank, especially if you have five kids who meddle with programmable thermostats.
It's really challenging for Nova Scotians and I think, as it says in this motion, it's really challenging for people across this province, and it's really challenging for different reasons. I think, as this points out, there are many businesses across this province that do rely on fuel, that do rely on those costs. What we've heard in this sitting around how to help them really is crickets.
The government does collect a lot of tax on fuel. Some of that is in excise tax and some of that is in HST, but as many members have pointed out today, some of that is a motive fuel tax and that is a provincial tax. That provincial tax has been a windfall to this government. As those prices rise, the more painful it is for people across this province - families and seniors and people running businesses - the more enriched our government becomes. As with any form of taxation, we certainly hope that revenue is used in all the right ways.
Unfortunately, as we've pointed out many times during this session, we have not seen a notable improvement in any of the challenges that our constituents are bringing forward. We have not seen an improvement to health care. We have not seen an improvement to people's quality of life. We have not seen the improvements that we've been fighting for. We know that the government is collecting more money in tax. We know that people are paying more money for fuel and we don't have anything to show for it.
All that people are feeling who approach us about this issue is pain. So the question is, how can we address this? As members may be tired of hearing, we have lots of ideas. We think that some of the revenue from this tax could be spent on specific items, so an emergency rebate. As the member for Northside-Westmount pointed out, this has been done in many provinces - our neighbouring provinces, in fact.
The Minister of Finance and Treasury Board likes to talk about people who make $100,000, and how it doesn't matter, and targeted relief. The reality is that the only action this government has taken this session on costs for Nova Scotians is this intervention in the NSUARB. Is that targeted? No, it's not targeted. That applies to everyone.
What have we been pushing for? Low income rebates for heating, making sure that we index the programs - and we talked about that today - that are available to Nova Scotians. All of that is targeted.
The one significant action we have seen from this government is not targeted at all. It's hard to take them at their word that they are paying attention to this pain that Nova Scotians are feeling.
An emergency tax rebate. We could ban power disconnections year-round. We could ensure that people retain power to their home. We can expand the HomeWarming program. We know that there are federal funds somewhere in the ether that have not yet been administered by the provincial government. It's November. People are filling their fuel tanks. Where is this relief for Nova Scotians? We could call for an emergency committee on energy affordability, an action that looks at all fuel types. There are a lot of things this government can do, yet we don't see any of it.
What we do see is this government saying, it's out of our hands. Inflation has nothing to do with us. It's a geopolitical problem. It has to with the World Bank and the federal Finance Minister, and I'm just running a lemonade stand.
The interesting thing I have to say about that approach is that at the same time, when we push for relief, when we ask for help for Nova Scotians who are begging for it, we hear, that will impact inflation. So how does that work? That's a logical inconsistency, to say we have nothing to do with inflation, it has nothing to do with us, we can't possibly impact it - and yet, if we help Nova Scotians a little bit, it might impact inflation. We can't make it better, but maybe theoretically, we could make it worse.
It doesn't make sense to me, and I think we're past the point of looking at solutions. Winter is here, and people need help.
There is one thing that is sure to raise the cost of fuel in this province, and that is the carbon tax. Today in Question Period, the minister told us for the first time - I think this was the first time that anyone in this House had ever heard this assertion, and anyone in the media based on the scrums - that he does not have it in his purview to do anything about a purely provincial tax, the motive fuel tax. Why? Because the federal government has told us a carbon tax is coming. Let me say that again: because the federal government has told us that a carbon tax is coming. That's the first time we have heard that. We know that the federal government has told the Progressive Conservatives that a carbon tax is coming.
What will this Progressive Conservative carbon tax do? It will raise the price of fuel. What can the government do about it? Well, they could try to negotiate. They could try to come up with a made-in-Nova Scotia solution. They could try to talk about where the revenue from that tax goes, and how it will be spent, and whether it will be spent to ameliorate the pain that Nova Scotians are feeling, particularly at the pumps and when they're heating their houses.
Let's be clear: This government has had over a year to present an alternative plan to the federal government, and they have not. They have not done this. Experts like Dr. Larry Hughes point out that the cost of this will be extremely expensive for Nova Scotians. Other experts are also pushing for this government to negotiate with their federal counterparts to avoid a carbon tax. The only thing this government has done is somehow inexplicably said on the one hand, they'll push everyone out of their way who stands in the way of their agenda, but that we're having a carbon tax because the Opposition - in a majority government - isn't somehow blocking it. It defies logic. It makes no sense.
This government has had ample time and resources that could have been directed toward developing a carbon-pricing system that equitably addressed the needs of Nova Scotians, and worked toward a reduction in emissions.
All we've seen is the output-based pricing system. This is a half measure, and this is also a tell, along with what the Minister responsible for Gaming - pardon the pun - said today in the House, that they have a deal. They have a deal with Ottawa. Their deal is, we're going to put together an output-based pricing system, you're going to impose a carbon tax, we're going to get mad about it, and off we go.
Why not come clean? Why not tell Nova Scotians that you have negotiated the federal carbon tax on their behalf? Probably because they're not going to like it.
The other thing I'll say about the output-based pricing system is that it targets two emitters, one of whom, Nova Scotia Power, will pass every penny back to consumers. You and I will pay for the pricing under that output-based pricing system. Not Nova Scotia Power - you and I, and all of our constituents. All Nova Scotians.
And while we're waiting for a climate plan from this government, which we were going to have last Spring, we still have no idea how this government plans to meet our climate targets and help people afford to live. The legislation is fine, but Nova Scotia Power stood in the Red Room and said they weren't going to abide by it. Guess what we can do about that? Nothing. So with no economic development plan either, we are flying blind.
Nova Scotians know that it is fully possible to tackle the climate crisis, make life affordable for regular people, and create sustainable jobs. We can do this, but we need a government with vision and imagination to help us make it happen. We need them to be honest with us, honest with Nova Scotians, and do the hard work that they were elected to do.