Touring the Sault, Andrew Scheer leads carbon tax protest downtown

Conservative MP Andrew Scheer and supporters gathered outside Sault MP Terry Sheehan’s office today to rally against the Liberal government’s carbon tax.

Justin Trudeau’s government says the tax, introduced in 2019, is environmentally responsible and aims to drastically reduce carbon emissions.

The Conservatives say the tax does not meet carbon emission targets and drives up the cost of fuel and overall cost of living for Canadians.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to "axe the tax" if elected to power in the next federal election.

“You don’t get ahead by paying higher taxes and you don’t lower emissions by punishing people for driving to work and heating their homes,” Scheer told a group of about 25 supporters outside Sault MP's office on Queen Street East.

Attendees waved "Axe the Tax" and "Spike the Hike" signs as some passing motorists honked their horns in support.

Each year on April 1, the carbon tax will go up by $15 per tonne until it reaches $170 per tonne in 2030. By 2030, the price on carbon will add nearly 40 cents per litre of fuel for Canadian motorists.

The tax will increase by 23 per cent from $65 per tonne to $80 per tonne this April 1. 

“In the few days we have left (before the April 1 carbon tax hike) my message to the people of Sault Ste. Marie is pick up the phone, get on your computer, send your MP a message and tell him to listen to you and not the Liberal and NDP bosses in Ottawa,” Scheer said at Thursday’s gathering.

Sheehan issued a news release Wednesday, reminding voters that eligible Canadians will receive their first of four quarterly Canada Carbon Rebates for 2024-2025 starting on April 15, via direct bank deposit or cheque.

The base amount of the quarterly Canada Carbon Rebates in Ontario is:

• $140 for an individual
• $70 for a spouse or common-law partner
• $35 per child under 19
• $70 for the first child in a single-parent family

“It’s a shell game that Canadians aren’t falling for,” Scheer said about the rebates, during a one-on-one interview with SooToday last night.

“What they didn’t take into account is all the tax’s effects on the economy like the farmer who produces the food, the trucker that ships the food, the retailer that sells the food, they all have to pay the carbon tax and that all gets built into the price and it gets passed on to consumers. The rebate doesn’t capture that.”

Scheer said that a Conservative government led by Poilievre would get rid of the carbon tax and use other sources of energy — such as liquid natural gas — to cut down on carbon emissions.

“As far as I see it, the government is a bully. They’re not here for the people at all,” said Michel Blais of Searchmont, who attended Thursday’s rally.

“As far as fuel and gas goes, it costs me $1,500 a month and I’m semi-retired. The cost of groceries, heat and everything else, the cost is just outrageous. Axe the tax. There’s no need for it,” Blais said.

Arnold Heino, the People's Party of Canada candidate for the Sault in the next federal election, said Trudeau’s carbon tax is part of a larger globalist agenda.

“It’s nice that they (the Conservatives) want to spike the hike and axe the tax and all these slogans but we still are under the Paris Accord, the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organization," he said. "We want Canada to be free again and we have to get out of those entities because nobody elected them in but they’re telling our government what to do.”

Conservative leader Poilievre has said the WEF threatens Canadian sovereignty.

Scheer, the MP for Regina-Qu'Appelle, is a former Conservative Party of Canada leader who battled Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in the 2019 federal election. He now serves as Opposition House Leader.

After a coffee break with supporters at Tazzi's Cafè & Restaurant, Scheer met with Al Pyette, the owner and operator of Show Stoppers Event Rentals.

Like many other downtown merchants, Pyette is concerned over the increase in local crime and locks the doors of his business during regular hours, leaving customers having to ring a doorbell to enter.

“It’s not the way Canada was just eight years ago. The crime wave that has been unleashed is directly linked to when Trudeau started lowering penalties and making it easier to get bail. That’s when we saw the explosion in car thefts, break and enters, extortion,” Scheer said, in a conversation with Pyette.    

Scheer linked increasing crime with increased drug use in the Sault and nationwide.

He said tougher penalties for convicted criminals and treatment programs for those battling addictions are key to fighting crime.

“Our plan is to get dangerous and repeat offenders off the street, focus on recovery and getting people off their addictions and bring our loved ones home drug free.”

Scheer, however, said “there's no such thing” as a safe injection site in a discussion with Pyette.

“A lot of downtown businesses are locking their doors," Pyette told SooToday. "I started locking my doors three months ago. We’re against safe consumption sites. You’ve got to rehabilitate the person and put him back into being in society."

Scheer, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and several other Conservative MPs are travelling across Canada in what is billed as a 'Spike the Hike' tour before the carbon tax increases April 1.

Scheer was scheduled to take a tour of Tenaris in the afternoon and discuss pipeline projects with management before leaving the Sault.