Ottawa, ON — Clifford Small, Conservative Shadow Minister for Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and Member of Parliament for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, released the following statement regarding the Liberal government’s plan to tax Atlantic Canadians on their home heating:

“Today, the Liberal government confirmed what we already knew — they care more about their political agenda, and they don’t care how it harms Atlantic Canadians.

“The Liberal government today announced their intention to impose their expensive carbon tax on Nova Scotia, P.E.I, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Instead of showing compassion for the hardship and financial burden this will bring to the one third of Atlantic Canadians who use heating oil to stop from freezing in the winter, Liberal Minister of Labour and Newfoundland MP Seamus O’Regan gave them the cold shoulder.

“Minister O’Regan lashed out at those concerns, saying he was ‘sick and tired of people talking about the cold winter’ and suggested that his government’s agenda was more important.

“More than 300,000 homes in Atlantic Canada have no other option than to use heating oil. They are the ones who are ‘sick and tired’ of seeing their bills rise by hundreds or thousands of dollars each year just to stay warm through the winter. Things will only get worse, but their pleas are being ignored by Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government.

“In a year, heating oil went up more than $0.50 per litre, an increase of more than 60 percent. Trudeau’s carbon tax will lump an additional $0.17 on top of it – plus HST. Atlantic Canadians are out of money and this Liberal government is out of touch.

“Conservatives continue to call on this Liberal government to scrap the tripling of its carbon tax and eliminate it completely from heating oil. Winter is coming, and Conservatives are listening. If the Liberal government won’t scrap the painful carbon tax, we will.”