BURNABY – Today’s surprise announcement by the TransLink Mayors that they have received the blessing of the NDP Government to hike the TransLink gas tax to 18.5 cents per litre is another sign of how the NDP’s promise of affordability was just a cynical campaign slogan.
This latest 1.5 cents/L gas tax increase, combined with their April 1st 1.1 cents/L carbon tax increase, and their commitment to hike the carbon tax by 1.1 cents/L every year, solidifies the Lower Mainland’s position as the highest gas tax jurisdiction in North America. By April 1, 2019, the Lower Mainland gas tax will be at least 54 cents per litre:
- 18.5 cents/L to TransLink
- 10 cents/L to federal government
- 8.5 cents/L to provincial government
- 9 cents/L to provincial government in carbon tax (set to rise 1.1 cents/L every year)
- 8 cents/L in GST (will increase as gas prices increase)
“With drivers already stretched thin by near-record gasoline process, the NDP have made it even worse. We already had the highest gas taxes in North America, and now the NDP have made it worse,” said Jordan Bateman, ICBA’s Communications Director and the leader of the No TransLink Tax campaign that defeated the TransLink sales tax in 2015. “If this is how the NDP makes good on their promise to make Lower Mainland life more affordable, taxpayers say, ‘STOP! We can’t afford any more of the NDP’s affordability’.”
With the Canada Day long weekend approaching and gas supply stretched thin in the Lower Mainland, analysts predicted prices would skyrocket. Today, the ICBA launched a new campaign calling on the NDP government to work to increase the Lower Mainland’s gas supply and to cut gas taxes.
The campaign includes this cheeky video, making the case to lower B.C.’s Big Gas prices by cutting our Big Gas taxes and getting a Big Gas pipeline built to move Canada’s Big Gas supply.
“We never imagined the NDP and TransLink mayors would kick off the long weekend by hiking already out-of-control gas taxes,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA president. “This is a critical issue to construction contractors and businesses, who must move goods and services around the region. Higher gas prices drive up the cost of everything in B.C.”
The NDP’s tax hiking isn’t limited to the Lower Mainland. Earlier this year, the NDP increased the Capital Region’s gas tax by 3.1 cents/L to third-highest in North America, paying 45.3 cents/L in direct gasoline taxes. That includes:
- 5.5 cents/L to BC Transit
- 10 cents/L to federal government
- 14.5 cents/L to provincial government
- 7.8 cents/L to provincial government in carbon tax (set to rise 1.1 cents/L every year)
- 8 cents/L in GST
The rest of B.C. has a slightly lighter tax burden, paying 38.8 cents/L in direct gasoline taxes, but that still includes a 1.1 cent/L carbon tax hike approved by the NDP:
- 10 cents/L to federal government
- 14.5 cents/L to provincial government
- 7.8 cents/L to provincial government in carbon tax (set to rise 1.1 cents/L every year)
- 7.5 cents/L in GST
View ICBA’s Big Gas tax video HERE.