The federal Liberals announced $2.5 billion in Tuesday’s budget to extend the rebates that families see on the tax on fuel and home heating to some businesses.
However, one political scientist sees it as a way to defuse political dissent.
“82 per cent of small businesses want the carbon taxes eliminated completely. So this will solve the wounds a bit, but politically, the carbon tax remains deeply unpopular,” said Chaldeans Mensah, a political science professor at MacEwan University.
The money is back paid for the five years the tax has existed without rebates to small or medium-sized businesses.
The North Edmonton Business Association says this comes at a time when many businesses are still struggling. Pointing to numbers that show more than half of small businesses didn’t have the cash to pay back pandemic-era loans, with many, either filing for or on the verge of bankruptcy.
“Small businesses will take all the help they can get right now. We do anticipate this will help a lot of businesses. About 95 per cent of businesses are struggling with access to capital right now compared to large businesses,” said Ruhee Ismail-Teja, the Vice-President of Policy and External Affairs at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
The Calgary Chamber says these rebates will help keep businesses going during high inflation, glad to see the carbon tax rebates will impact about 600,000 businesses later this year, which is a larger number than expected.
“We need a business-centered approach because we’re in a time of economic uncertainty and we need to ensure businesses can do what they can in order to ensure stability for folks across the board,” said Ismail-Teja.
In order to see the rebate, eligible businesses will need to file their taxes by mid-July.
