Sask. government says it is now recognized as province's singular natural gas distributor
The Saskatchewan government has confirmed it is now being recognized as the individual supplier of natural gas by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as it continues to contemplate whether to remit carbon tax for January.
Following an announcement from Ottawa last fall that included a three year pause on carbon tax for home heating oil, Premier Scott Moe indicated Saskatchewan would stop collecting carbon tax on natural gas for home heating in January 2024.
In an emailed statement to CTV News, the province says that a final decision has yet to be made, but will be decided upon before the end of February payment deadline.
“Decisions regarding whether to remit residential carbon tax charges for the month of January will be made in advance of the end of February payment deadline,” the email reads.
Despite no final decision on whether or not to remit carbon tax for January, Saskatchewan residents stopped seeing the federal charge on their SaskEnergy bills as of Jan. 1, 2024.
Late in 2023, an amendment was passed to list the provincial government as the province’s sole distributer of natural gas over SaskEnergy. The amendment received NDP support.
Dustin Duncan, who is Saskatchewan's crown investment minister, said at the time that the move was to protect SaskEnergy employees from any legal repercussions from the federal government should any come from not remitting carbon tax.
Canada’s federal carbon tax is currently listed at $65 per tonne and is set to increase to $80 per tonne on April 1. Increases are set to continue at $15 annually until 2030.
The province recently touted that its decision to stop collecting the carbon levy on natural gas and electric heat contributed to Saskatchewan’s inflation rate falling to 1.9 per cent in January.
However, the inflation rate in all provinces, excluding Alberta, reported a decrease in their inflation rates according to Statistics Canada’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) update.
-- With files from David Prisciak.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump vows to renegotiate USMCA free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico
Donald Trump has vowed to renegotiate the USMCA free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.
Poilievre, Guilbeault claim victory after federal budget watchdog's updated carbon tax report
Both the Liberals and Conservatives are claiming a win after the parliamentary budget officer released an updated report on the economic impacts of the federal carbon tax on Canadian households.
Look up: Northern lights could be visible across Canada on Thursday night
The northern lights could be visible across most of Canada on Thursday night.
1 person is dead and 12 are trapped in a former Colorado gold mine
One person was killed and officials were working to rescue 12 others trapped deep beneath the surface of a former Colorado gold mine after an elevator malfunctioned at the tourist site, authorities said Thursday.
'This is money, this is my life': Victim of violent Thornhill robbery says he had around $110K stolen
The victim of a violent robbery in Thornhill says he had $100,000 to $110,000 stolen from him after being boxed in his car.
Winnipeg School Division apologizes over message displayed during professional development day
The superintendent of the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) has apologized over a message displayed during a professional development day on Wednesday.
Another Canadian reportedly dead in Lebanon amid escalating Israel-Hezbollah conflict
Global Affairs Canada says it's aware of reports of the death of a Canadian in Lebanon.
340 rescued following Hurricane Milton's widespread destruction
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night, causing widespread destruction and immobilizing critical infrastructure. Hundreds of residents have been rescued so far.
Senate passes Liberal, NDP bill to cover diabetes and birth control medication
The pharmacare bill that was central to a political pact between the Liberals and NDP become law Thursday after the Senate passed the bill without making any changes.