Rancher vows not to pay carbon tax on propane bill until Trans Mountain is built
An Alberta rancher says she will refuse to pay the carbon tax on her propane bill until there's action on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
"I just thought this was one thing that I could do to have a voice on the issue," Sheila Griffith told CBC's Radio Active on Thursday, over the phone from her ranch west of Calgary.
Griffith uses propane to heat her rural property and has been paying the carbon tax since it was added to her bill in January 2017 when it was introduced by the province.
But in December she decided she would no longer pay the carbon tax portion of her bill and wants the province to follow suit.
"I'd like Premier [Rachel] Notley to take one further step," Griffith said.
"She said she wasn't going to join the carbon tax increases that [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau had planned and I would like her to put the tax itself on hold and suspend it until ... they break ground again and are building [the Trans Mountain line], or it's operating."
In a letter to her supplier, Superior Propane, Griffith requested the company withhold the carbon tax amount from the Alberta government and hold it in dispute.
"I think [it's] our right that they not remit that portion to the government," she said.
Superior Propane did not respond to a request from CBC for comment.
Griffith said she is "mildly" concerned about accruing late payment charges or impact on her credit rating. Her next bill will come next June.
"How will that play out? Time will tell," she said, "I do hope we'll get a new government before my next propane tank."
