City seeks exemptions from carbon tax on home heating and short-term rental act
Councillor Trevor Bolin brought forward two motions at Tuesday’s regular council meeting asking that the City of Fort St. John send two letters from the mayor’s office to the Province of British Columbia.
The first letter, to Premier David Eby and the Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, is to request an exclusion from the carbon tax on home heating bills.
With the Federal government’s decision to drop the carbon tax on home heating in the maritimes, and the failure of other provinces to secure the same breaks for their home heating fuels, Bolin believes that something needs to be done.
“I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of municipalities jump on the bandwagon and do that, but I think for us, we have winter longer than anyone. It costs our residents more than it costs anyone else,” said Bolin.
The second letter Bolin suggested would go to the Premier and the Minister of Housing, requesting an exclusion from the principal residency requirement of the Short-Term Rentals Act, which is scheduled to take effect in May 2024.
There are a couple of things that the letter needs to touch on, Bolin said, one is the energy sector.
“We do have people who come here for a short time, to ensure that there is safety for those workers on oilpatch sites. We do have hotels that are full for non-stop time frames,” he said.
One example of the problem with hotel availability, Bolin explained, was during the wildfires, when ESS personnel weren’t able to come up with more than eleven hotel rooms for evacuees.
“We are also a regional hospital that serves Fort Nelson. If you’re going to have a baby, in Fort Nelson, you’re sent to Fort St. John. We can’t expect these people to have one less option to stay in.”
Right now, Fort St. John is excluded, but they’re basing the exclusion on old data, Bolin said. “Come spring, they’ll probably realize that we shouldn’t be excluded, so I think it’s our time right now to request a permanent exclusion for the city of Fort St. John.”
Chief Administrative Officer Milo MacDonald noted that staff had already looked into the matter and compiled a report which will be on the November 27 council meeting agenda.