Alberta NDP declines to join UCP in demand that Canada suspend gas, carbon taxes

As Alberta gas prices continued to soar Friday to heights not seen in at least a decade, a UCP minister said the fuel tax pause is all but certain to continue and he's demanding the same from Ottawa.

Alberta stopped collecting 13 cents per litre on gasoline and diesel amid rising prices in March.

The UCP government is promising to continue that as long as the cost of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) remains above US$90. That price was around US$120 Friday, and a final decision for the upcoming quarter will be made on Wednesday.

"What I want right now is the suspension of the federal carbon tax and all federal fuel taxes immediately, no questions asked," Acting Finance Minister Jason Nixon told CTV News.

"The circumstances taking place, and cost of gas, is a crisis at the moment. That’s why Alberta removed our tax and the number one thing, the number one thing, the federal government could do right now is copy the Alberta government."

The average price of a litre of regular in Alberta was $1.89 on Friday, and the average nationwide was about $2.10, according to Gasbuddy. Both were hovering around the highest prices the website has ever tracked.

On Tuesday, Nixon sent a letter to NDP Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley asking if she would sign a joint letter requesting tax relief from the governing federal Liberals.

Nixon said he hadn't heard back from Ganley.

NDP, FEDERAL LIBERALS FAVOUR OTHER INITIATIVES

"Instead of complaining about (control of the carbon tax) they handed control of over to the federal government, the UCP could reduce Albertans' monthly bills immediately," the NDP MLA for Calgary-Mountain View told CTV News Edmonton.

Instead, she offered a long list of things the UCP could do to lower other costs for Albertans.

"They could scrap their billion-dollar income tax grab, stop driving up property taxes, scrap their increases to tuition and interest on student debt, stop raising camping fees, and restore the price protections they removed on electricity and car insurance. They could also finally deliver the natural gas rebates they have been promising for months but failing to deliver," Ganley suggested.

The NDP supports the Alberta gas tax suspension and Ganley has called on it to be extended until October.

The federal government collects 10 cents per litre on gasoline on top of five per cent GST. A carbon tax imposed by Ottawa and collected by Alberta also adds about 11 cents per litre at the gas pumps.

A spokesperson for Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland would not commit to Nixon's request Friday, but provided a list of initiatives focused on affordability for Canadians that included a minimum wage bump, child care benefits and a dental care program.

"We know that the cost of living is a real concern for Albertans, and that is why affordability was at the heart of the budget released in April. We continue to focus on supporting hard working Canadians and will have more to say soon," wrote Press Secretary Adrienne Vaupshas.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski