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Two Green Party leaders in the Maritimes are pushing for a so-called windfall tax as a way to ease rising inflation.
The measure, which was introduced in the U.K. in May, would place a tax on profits from oil and gas companies.
New Brunswick Green Party leader David Coon said New Brunswickers were paying about $40 more to fill their vehicle’s tanks with fuel each time, compared to last year.
“Ninety per cent of that additional cost is a windfall for the oil companies,” said Coon in the New Brunswick legislature on Friday.
“As a result, they’re swimming in windfall profits. New Brunswickers want to know where the extra money is actually going when they fill up their gas tanks. The answer is Irving Oil and big oil.”
New Brunswick Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland suggested Coon’s proposal was short sighted.
“I don’t know if he has the right approach,” said Holland in the legislature. “It seems like there’s been a career made of members of the Green Party talking about how to shut down business.”
Holland said the New Brunswick Government would be seeking clarification from the province’s Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) for a broad analysis of fuel price volatility.
“We’re not saying we can’t examine and evaluate, that’s evidenced by the work we’re doing to reach out to organizations like the EUB to give us an analysis, talk about things, give us breakdowns, data, and information so we can make informed decisions,” said Holland.
Prince Edward Island Green Party leader Peter Bevan-Baker said a windfall tax should be placed on non-renewable energy companies and should go further to reach other sectors.
“We should not let big corporations profit off the struggling public,” said Bevan-Baker on Friday.
“Here on the island, thousands of people are struggling at a time when large corporations, whether they be grocery chains or oil and gas companies, reap the highest profits they’ve ever seen in their history.”
Earlier this week, Alberta’s Progressive Conservative energy minister said anything similar to the U.K.’s windfall tax in that province would be considered an “extreme act of aggression” against its constitutional authority if imposed by Ottawa.
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