Canada’s new prime minister has paused his predecessor’s consumer carbon tax.
Mark Carney signed an order-in-council on Friday, just hours after being sworn in.
“The consumer carbon tax is not working,” Carney said in a social media post.
“It’s become too divisive — at a time when Canada needs to be united.”
The carbon tax law still exists on the books, but the rate charged to consumers is being lowered to zero.
The carbon tax currently adds 17 cents to a litre of gasoline and 21 cents to a litre of diesel.
The fuel charge will officially be lowered on April 1, which is when the price was scheduled to rise again.
Canadians who received carbon tax rebates will still get one in April, said the prime minister.
Carney’s decision is being welcomed by many, including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“This means taxpayers will save money at the gas station and on their heating bills, but the fight against carbon taxes is not over,” Franco Terrazzano, the federation’s federal director, said in a news release.
“The government must repeal the carbon tax law and scrap the hidden carbon tax on businesses that will continue to make life more expensive for Canadians.”
The price that big industrial emitters pay remains in place and was not part of Friday’s announcement.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney is simply hiding the tax until after the next election, when he will bring back a bigger “shadow carbon tax” without any rebate.
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