MLAs grill Yukon government on affordability as legislature resumes

Opposition MLAs lobbed a battery of questions about affordability and tax relief at government benches during the first question period of the fall sitting Thursday.

Citing "record high" fuel prices, the official opposition repeated its call from March for the government to cut the fuel tax.

"We think it would be more broadly supportive of Yukoners to cut the fuel tax to assist in the price of gasoline, the price of fuel and the price of food, as the majority of our food comes up by truck," Yukon Party leader Currie Dixon told reporters after question period.

In response, Premier Sandy Silver was quick to indicate that the Yukon's fuel tax is already the lowest in Canada outside Alberta, which suspended its tax until the start of this month. Currently, Yukoners pay 6.2 cents per litre in fuel tax for gasoline, and 7.2 cents per litre for diesel.

The premier also pointed to inflation-relief measures the government has announced within the last month, such as one-time payments of $150 to those on social assistance and low-income seniors, as well as a $50-per-cord firewood rebate. The government's inflation relief package also includes a $150 rebate on electricity bills.

"And we've explained, in our opinion and also the opinions of a lot of economists, why a cut in a fuel price isn't necessarily where you want to put … the taxpayers' money when you talk about inflation rebates," Silver told reporters.

"We're going to focus our reliefs and benefit those who need it the most. And we're going to do that in probably a different way than the Yukon Party would."

Yukon Party finance critic Brad Cathers claimed that residents of the Northwest Territories are exempt from the federal carbon tax on home heating fuel (in fact, N.W.T. residents do pay this tax, but it's later rebated). He said while the Yukon Party would like to see the tax eliminated, he asked if the government would pursue an exemption for the territory.

Silver replied by suggesting the Yukon Party campaigned on a carbon tax before pivoting to the government cutting taxes "across the board." While the Yukon Party platform concedes the territory needs its own emissions plan that meets federal standards, it says a made-in-Yukon system would include exemptions, including on home heating.

Speaking to reporters, Silver stressed carbon pricing sends a price signal to people to cut their emissions.

He was adamant that economic concerns are tied to environmental ones, a message he shoehorned in response to a question about how his own spending habits have changed during a time of rising inflation. The premier weaved together an answer that went from becoming a pandemic "hermit," to referencing a concept introduced by the British economist William Forster Lloyd.

"The tragedy of the commons is that you don't think that your individual efforts aren't going to affect the world. That's simply not true," Silver said, referring to the idea that, in essence, people act in their own interests and deplete shared resources.

"So apply that to the same thing when it comes to your own home accounting, right? It's a very similar thing."

As prices rise, Silver said the hardest financial decision he's made recently was his choice to park his pickup truck and camper, in favour of a compact car.