REGINA-QU’APPELLE, May 16, 2024 — Andrew Scheer is joining Pierre Poilievre and the Common Sense Conservatives in calling on Justin Trudeau to pause the carbon tax, the federal gas tax, and the GST for the summer to bring some desperately needed relief for Canadians.

After nine years of Justin Trudeau, Canadians are being forced to cancel their summer vacations as the Liberals’ tax-and-spend agenda has made even a simple road trip unaffordable. Parents can barely afford basic necessities, much less a summer vacation.

Families will have to pay $700 more for food this year than they did in 2023. Last year, food banks had to handle a record 2 million visits in a single month, with a million more visits expected in 2024. Homeless encampments are common in every city across Canada.

In the middle of this historic cost-of-living crisis, Trudeau and his NDP coalition partners decided to hike the carbon tax by 23 percent. This is just one step in his plan to quadruple the carbon tax over the next six years, making everything more expensive at the worst possible time. In fact, since Trudeau became Prime Minister, gas prices have surged by more than 50%.

The independent Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that most families pay more in the carbon tax that they receive in the rebate. This year, Trudeau’s carbon tax will cost Saskatchewan families an extra $2618.

Common Sense Conservatives and I are calling on Trudeau to give Canadians a break this summer by axing the carbon tax, the gas tax, and the GST between Victoria Day and Labour Day so families can afford to take a simple summer vacation.

This will save Saskatchewan families $860 this summer.

Conservatives will axe the tax on everything for everyone in a carbon tax election, but until that can happen, Trudeau must adopt this common sense measure to give Canadians a break this summer.