The federal government made the pitch to the municipalities that this carbon tax would have a net benefit for them, and opposition members here in this place have rallied around that thought. But let’s test that theory for a second.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, 10% of tax revenues are used to fund environmental projects for small businesses, municipalities, hospital, schools and Indigenous communities. Wow. Meanwhile many municipalities have seen significant increases in their operating expenses because of the carbon tax. In Kenora–Rainy River, the local district services board tells us that their fuel costs have doubled since 2020.

Even in the NDP-governed British Columbia, we’re seeing strong opposition by the municipalities to this regressive tax. Fort St. John said it best. They said a carbon tax on home heating and everything else is an unfair financial burden for residents in northern cities in their province. We agree. Let’s scrap that tax.

The Canadian Energy Centre reports that the forestry and logging sector in Ontario alone will see a cost increase of 5%. Now, a lot of those trees create board foot. That board foot goes to build homes, which we badly need. So we can see those costs being buried in the very things that we’re trying to build for Ontario in the midst of a housing crisis. The same study suggests that the carbon tax will result in a 4.4% increase in the cost of creating legacy infrastructure for mining operations and those mining operations. That’s not helpful when we’re trying to develop critical minerals to transform a green economy and incredible opportunity for Ontarians. Let’s just scrap the tax.