Province to face audit over carbon levies

This article was written and published by the Toronto Star on April 30, 2024.

The Canada Revenue Agency is going to audit Saskatchewan for not paying carbon levies on home heating, Premier Scott Moe said Monday. Moe said the agency has indicated it will look at Saskatchewan’s books to see how much the province owes in levies that weren’t paid to Ottawa. “They will ask if they can look at the submissions we’ve made and for us to submit money they estimate may be owed,” he told reporters. “We don’t believe there’s any dollars that are owed.” The Saskatchewan Party government decided earlier this year to not remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, a move that breaks federal law. Moe invoked the measure after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exempted users of home heating oil from having to pay the levy in a move largely seen as politically motivated to boost Liberal support in Atlantic Canada. The CRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trudeau said last week the agency is “very, very good” at getting money owed and wished Moe “good luck” in dealing with the agency.

Author: Ray Nakano

Ray is a retired, third generation Japanese Canadian born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He resides in Toronto where he worked for the Ontario Government for 28 years. Ray was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2011 and practises in the Plum Village tradition, supporting sanghas in their mindfulness practice. Ray is very concerned about our climate crisis. He has been actively involved with the ClimateFast group (https://climatefast.ca) for the past 5 years. He works to bring awareness of our climate crisis to others and motivate them to take action. He has created the myclimatechange.home.blog website, for tracking climate-related news articles, reports, and organizations. He has created mobilizecanada.ca to focus on what you can do to address the climate crisis. He is always looking for opportunities to reach out to communities, politicians, and governments to communicate about our climate crisis and what we need to do. He says: “Our world is in dire straits. We have to bend the curve on our heat-trapping pollutants in the next few years if we hope to avoid the most serious impacts of human-caused global warming. Doing nothing is not an option. We must do everything we can to create a livable future for our children, our grandchildren, and all future generations.”