The Yukon Party appears to be wondering if the governing Liberals aren’t playing a little trick or treat when it comes to the carbon tax.

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon broached the subject on Monday during question period in the legislature.

“For much of this year, the Yukon has led the country in cost-of-living increases, and despite this, the federal Liberal government has increased the carbon tax and is now heaping on a new clean fuel standard, which many are calling a second carbon tax,” Dixon said.

“Yukoners cannot afford any more federal tax increases. The federal Liberals have now shown that carve-outs and exemptions on the carbon tax are possible but only if they are put under pressure.

“The three territories bear the brunt of the carbon tax more than any region in the country. Will the premier stand up to the federal government and insist on a northern carve-out to the carbon tax?”

Finance Minister Sandy Silver chose to spar with Dixon on that question.

“Rising inflation and an elevated cost of living continue to present challenges around the world and that is no different here in the Yukon,” said the former premier.

“We fought at every turn for regional-specific exemptions and rebates that make sense in the context of what a carbon-pricing mechanism is, and we will continue to do that,” Silver said.

“You have to consider carbon leakage, which means mining companies going to other countries where the environmental policies and the human rights policies are not there.

“You have to consider the cost of living in northern areas, and we have considered that as well,” Silver added.

“You have to consider the unique situation of our placer industry as well, where there are not a lot of alternatives.”

MLAs have voted in favour of the new changes enabling the territory to keep the Yukon carbon-pricing mechanism, he noted.

“I thank the members of the opposition for that, but to say that we have done nothing — that is just clearly inaccurate.”

Dixon doggedly pursued his point.

“I think that the Finance minister ignores the fact that the policy has changed, and now the federal government is entertaining new exemptions,” he said.

“The Yukon Party has led the call for an exemption from the carbon tax for the North since the federal government announced it in 2016.

“We have consistently made the case that a carbon tax only serves to make life more expensive for northerners, and that is what we have seen since the Liberals forced it on us.”

(Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last Thursday that the federal carbon tax on home heating oil, currently 17.38 cents per litre, will be lifted for three years effective Nov. 9.)

Silver said the Yukon Party “is not telling people that in the Yukon, 100 per cent of the money that is raised from the federal government on carbon pricing goes back into Yukoners’ pockets, which is not necessarily the same thing in every other jurisdiction in Canada.

“We don’t keep any of this money, even if there is a price on carbon.”

As for the pending heating oil exemption from the carbon tax, Silver said, “We are looking to see and reviewing to see how this will impact the Yukon, and we will make appropriate adjustments, if needed.”

Dixon said he has a simpler solution.

“The simplest thing to do would be to get rid of the carbon tax altogether for the entire Canadian North,” he said.

“The carbon tax affects the price of pretty much everything in the north. It affects the price of food, housing, and transportation. Throughout this year, the Yukon has led the country in increases to our cost of living.

“Despite this, the (federal) Liberal government increased the carbon tax by 30 per cent this year, but now the door has been opened to changes to the policy and hopefully an approach that reflects the needs of the Yukon.”

Now, Dixon said, “is the perfect time to make the case for a northern exemption from the Liberal carbon tax, but the only way to convince the federal government, as we’ve seen in Atlantic Canada, is if the premier speaks up. So, will the premier call for a northern exemption to the carbon tax?”

Premier Ranj Pillai responded, “Over the last number of days, we have engaged with the federal government and certainly have tabled our displeasure to what we saw last week. What we are waiting to see now is: what will the changes be?

“The member opposite said that there would be a made-in-Yukon carbon-pricing system that he would table in the 2021 election,” Pillai added.

“We have not heard the details of that now, but, again, we are not pleased with the change, and we will continue to ensure that all the funds that come through this system go back to Yukoners.”

The financial impact of the coming carbon tax suspension depends on the amount of fuel a household purchases at any given time.

According to Bridgette Parker, a communications analyst with the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, said that “over the past five years, most Yukoners received more carbon tax rebate than they have paid in levies. 

“It is important to note that home heating oil is exempt from the Yukon’s territorial fuel tax levied on petroleum products sold in the Yukon,” Parker added.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Liberals to exempt all forms of home heating from the carbon price.

Poilievre wrote a letter to Trudeau last Sunday urging the government to expand the exemption to all forms of home heating – including natural gas, which is more common in western Canada.

“In pausing the tax on home heating oil until after the election, however, you plan to keep the tax on lower-emitting natural gas heat for which bills will be jumping even further in mere weeks as it gets colder,” wrote Poilievre.

“That is why common-sense Conservatives are offering our full co-operation to pass an emergency bill (this week) to axe the carbon tax on all forms of heat before winter heat bills hit Canadians next month.”

The carbon tax is intended to make fossil fuels more expensive as an energy source, to encourage people to find cleaner alternatives.

But Trudeau said last Thursday it has become clear that isn’t happening when it comes to heat pumps, in part because it takes time and money to make the switch, so giving people more time to make the transition before paying the carbon price was a good choice.

The changes to the carbon pricing regime come as affordability concerns leave the Liberal party flailing in the polls in Atlantic Canada, and one of Trudeau’s Atlantic cabinet ministers suggested politics are at play in the decision.

– With files from Mark Page and The Canadian Press