Ontario moving ahead with anti carbon tax stickers despite backlash

The Ontario government wants it to be mandatory for gas stations to display anti-carbon tax stickers by August 30 – just in time for the October federal election.

The stickers display a basic chart with an upward arrow symbolizing that gas prices will rise 11 cents per litre by 2022. The stickers do not mention carbon tax rebates, which are projected to return 90 per cent of the tax revenue to Canadians.

Anti-carbon tax stickers cost $5,000 to create, Ontario government says https://t.co/5fMmM6MLIu pic.twitter.com/8rdPlNASg5

— CTV Toronto (@CTVToronto) April 18, 2019

Gas stations that don’t comply will be fined $10,000 per day. This legislation, which critics have called political propaganda, would cost Ontarians $5,000 to print, plus the cost of distributing the stickers across the province.

The Progressive Conservative Party calls these stickers “transparency measures.” Critics have called them political propaganda.

#ICYMI: From stickers on gas pumps to a line item on your natural gas bills, Ontario’s government is introducing new transparency measures that will prevent the federal government from hiding the true cost of its job-killing carbon tax. pic.twitter.com/wpDs5IDypE

— Doug Ford (@fordnation) April 13, 2019

Green Party Leader Mike Shreiner edited the sticker to include the environmental impact of rejecting a carbon tax, such as average temperatures in Canada rising 6.3 degrees by 2100.

Well, those operators should comply with law. But display a sticker that tells the full story, thanks to @MikeSchreiner pic.twitter.com/SElvTZO8YV

— Peter R 🇨🇦 (@peterrevie) June 11, 2019

Marit Stiles, NDP MPP for Davenport said the stickers were “outrageous” and “chilling for everyone in Ontario.”

NDP points out that the punishment for gas stations that don't show Ford's anti-carbon tax sticker is the same as that for people who:
- sell cigarettes at a daycare
- use fake ID to buy gun ammunition

“It’s outrageous, and it’s chilling for everyone in Ontario" —@maritstiles pic.twitter.com/mrepRYQtIg

— Emma Paling (@emmapaling) June 11, 2019

“According to Ford, failing to display his Conservative propaganda on gas pumps is as bad as using a fake ID to stock up on gun ammunition, or selling cigarettes in child care centres,” Stiles said at Queens Park yesterday.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce published a letter responding to the stickers and asking the provincial government to revoke the legislation at the end of April.

We are asking the Government to remove the section of the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act, that if passed, would require gas station operators to display a sticker on gasoline pumps showing the impact of the federal carbon tax. https://t.co/wTRBLaW0ZR @GregRickford #onpoli pic.twitter.com/Bz4IVbo2GM

— Ontario Chamber (@OntarioCofC) April 25, 2019

“Our members – including gas station operators – have expressed concerns regarding the political nature of the stickers, viewing them as a violation of their rights and freedoms,” Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, wrote in a letter to Minister of Energy Greg Rickford.