Jane Weyallon Armstrong isn’t sure why NWT residents are still paying carbon tax on home heating oil.
“I don’t know why it’s still happening,” the Monfwi MLA said from her home of Behchoko on Jan. 5. “We just recently got our bill, and there was carbon tax, and there’s GST on top of that, and many of my constituents are still getting it.
“It’s not just me, it’s not just my region, but there’s other regions that are having issues with that too as well,” she added.
Under new legislation from the federal government, residents of some provinces and territories are exempt from paying carbon tax on home heating oil. However, not all provinces and territories follow the federal system for carbon taxes. Some, like the NWT, use an independent system, which means that the federal exemption does not apply in the territory, and residents are still paying the tax even though the federal government no longer requires them to do so.
Weyallon Armstrong said it’s unlikely that the issue will be addressed by MLAs in a meaningful way until the legislative assembly’s next session begins on Feb. 6.
“It’s something that we have to discuss when we get back to work [on Feb. 6],” she added. “I know it’s going to be addressed.”
Even if legislators begin tackling the carbon tax on Feb. 6, it could be weeks or months before policy is changed in such a way that NWT citizens start receiving cheaper home heating bills — perhaps even after the winter is over, when the bulk of home heating fuel is consumed.
That has led to some residents suggesting MLAs should consider hosting an emergency session to address the carbon tax sooner, but Weyallon Armstrong believes that’s unlikely.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” she said. “I don’t see it happening until February.
“I do understand that concern because people are having a hard time as it is right now, financially,” she added. “This does impact people’s income. I know the urgency. They want us to deal with this right away.”
The NWT carbon tax on home heating oil comes with a rebate. However, residents don’t receive any money back until well after they have paid their bills. For people living cheque-to-cheque, that system can be problematic.
The territory also offers a senior home heating subsidy, which aims to “assist low-to-modest income seniors in the NWT with their heating costs,” per the GWNT website, but Weyallon Armstrong believes the threshold for that subsidy is too high.
”There’s a lot of Elders in my region that don’t qualify for the subsidy program, and retirees, people who contributed to the public service for many years, they don’t qualify for some of these programs,” she said.
“The income threshold needs to be adjusted,” she added. “We’ve been asking the government to fix the income threshold so that many of these people can qualify.”
Minister of Finance Caroline Wawzonek was not available to comment prior to publication deadline.