Ontario drivers could soon see government-mandated stickers about the price of the carbon tax on gas pumps across the province.
The Progressive Conservative government railed against the federal carbon tax for months before it took effect last week and since then has held near-daily events to slam it.
At one such event today, the environment and energy ministers announced what they call “transparency measures” about the carbon tax.
They say they will introduce legislation that would require stickers to be put on gas pumps saying the tax will add more than 11 cents per litre to the price of gas by 2022.
This year, the carbon tax is adding 4.4 cents per litre to the price of gas.
Ontario is one of four provinces, including Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, where Ottawa imposed the levy because they opted not to impose their own pricing schemes on carbon emissions.
The government has also asked the Ontario Energy Board to clearly reflect the cost of the carbon tax on natural gas bills. It will add about four cents to a cubic metre of natural gas.
Ontario is challenging the carbon tax in court next week.
The tax is expected cost to a typical household $258 this year and $648 by 2022. Residents of provinces with the tax will be getting rebates on their income tax returns that start at $128 annually and increase for people with spouses or dependents at home. The federal government says a family of four in Ontario would get $307 this year.