Nova Scotians Brace for Gas Tax Hike

The Member of Parliament for Cumberland-Colchester says this year’s Canada Day celebrations will be marred with the imposition of a punishing new tax on gas and home heating fuel.

Dr. Stephen Ellis says the four Atlantic Provinces are united in their opposition of the federal carbon tax that takes effect tomorrow — Canada Day.

Ellis says it is a pig-headed move by the Prime Minister who refuses to see that Nova Scotians in particular will feel the punch more than other Canadians.

Speaking on the radio program Morning Talk, Ellis says the tax is designed to motivate people to cut back on driving, but without alternate forms of transportation, residents have no choice. He says, “We have to drive to get to work or to do family business.”

The tax hike tomorrow will be 14.31 cents per litre for gas. An additional 3.74 cents will be added next weekend, and additional increases are expected over the next two years.

Ellis says, “In their view, the lives, livelihoods, and futures of hardworking Canadians are secondary to scoring political points with their base. This is a government that cares more about burnishing its credentials than about the needs of Nova Scotians who are struggling to make ends meet.”

The federal Conservative Party has pledged — if elected — to repeal the tax.

Meanwhile, a run on gasoline sales has left much of Nova Scotia without regular unleaded gas. Service stations across the province sold out today as wary consumers filled their cars and gas cans in advance of tomorrow's tax bump.

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