Opposition New Democrats have released another pre-election commitment Monday by promising to suspend the gas tax for six months.
Outside a Petro-Canada gas station next to Albert Street in north Regina, NDP leader Carla Beck said an NDP government would suspend the 15 cent a litre gas tax at midnight on day one when they power.
Beck said her party was focused on lowering costs and putting money back into the pockets of Saskatchewan people. She cited concerns raised from the public about affordability as the reason for the move, with the NDP saying suspending the gas tax would save families approximately $350.
“Every day I hear from families who’ve had to cancel that summer trip or just can’t seem to make ends meet at the end of the month. Families who are working harder and harder under Scott Moe’s government but they are falling further and further behind,” said Beck.
“At a time when families in this province are doing everything they can to make every dollar go as far as they can, Scott Moe is doing things like take a million dollar trip to Dubai or his ministers have decided to take a chauffeured limo ride around Paris.”
Beck noted her plan for gas tax relief was supported by 74 per cent of Saskatchewan people, according to an Insightrix poll.
The pledge by the NDP to suspend the gas tax has been nothing new, with Beck making the same commitment on the day of her campaign launch, and with the NDP calling for suspension of tne gas tax every day to lead off Question Period in the legislature this spring.
On Monday, Beck also told reporters she had sent a letter on the weekend to leaders of all of the major federal parties, outlining her federal agenda and seeking commitments from those leaders they would follow through on each item. Those included scrapping the federal carbon tax, properly funding health care, reforms to equalization and hiring more RCMP officers.
“I want to make it perfectly clear that if elected Premier I will always stand up for the people of Saskatchewan,” Beck said.
“I’m not running for federal office. I am running to be the Premier of this province. The people here must come first, no matter who sits in the Prime Minister‘s office.”
Donna Harpauer responds
Later that afternoon, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer fired back with her own statement, pointing to Saskatchewan being the most affordable place in Canada to live. She also pointed to steps they have taken including “removing the Trudeau-NDP carbon tax on home heating. That has resulted in Saskatchewan’s inflation rate being consistently lower than the rest of Canada.”
Harpauer lampooned the provincial NDP’s claim of being against the federal carbon tax.
“The carbon tax continues to be a main driver of inflation, as it is a tax on everything we produce, ship buy and sell. Not only has the NDP supported the carbon tax in the past, but it currently has elected members who actively support it.”
Harpauer also pointed to the province spending “more than a 100 per cent of the fuel excise tax revenue on highways across the province to keep our roads safe. The cost of pausing the excise fuel tax for one year is over $500 million.”
She said that would leave government with options of not repairing highways, raising other taxes, cutting funding in other areas or increasing the deficit.
“The NDP has continually called for a pause of the fuel tax without a plan to maintain highways. They have also called for an overall increase in government spending in many other areas and lower borrowing. You simply cannot cut taxes, increase spending and not borrow simultaneously.”
When asked about concerns raised in recent days about how much the NDP promises would cost Saskatchewan taxpayers, Beck said they would cost out their platform and release those details along with a plan to balance the budget after four years.
“We’ve been careful not to over-promise, but to address the things people in this province care about,” said Beck.