Letter to the Editor

Forget the Gas Tax. Fossil Fuel Companies Should Pay for Burning the North

On Friday, Premier Doug Ford penned an open letter calling on Prime Minister Carney to cut the federal tax on gasoline.
But if Premier Ford wants to talk about the cost of living, he should start by asking a much bigger question:
Who is going to pay for the cost of wildfires—and for rebuilding northern Ontario after they destroy our communities?
Because for ordinary families, the real bill isn’t just what we pay at the gas pump.
It’s the bill that arrives later, through our taxes, when governments have to fight massive wildfires, evacuate communities, rebuild roads and infrastructure, replace public buildings and help families and businesses recover from disasters.
It’s the bill that shows up in insurance claims—and in higher premiums for worse coverage. 
Today, the cost of rebuilding your home is covered. Tomorrow, your deductible doubles. The year after that, wildfire coverage might disappear from your policy altogether.
Northern Ontario has just endured one of its worst wildfire seasons on record. 
730,000 hectares burned. Entire communities wiped off the map. 3,000 people evacuated.
Ontario spent $271 million fighting wildfires last year. This year, the costs will be higher still. 
So I have a simple question for Premier Ford: Who is going to foot that bill?
Ontario taxpayers.
If Premier Ford truly wants Prime Minister Carney to do something for northern families, he should be demanding that the fossil fuel companies making untold profits pay for the damage they are causing.
Fossil fuel companies have raked in $93 billion in profit since the start of the Iran war.
Let that number sink in: $93 billion.
That’s how much Ontario spent on healthcare last year.
While ordinary families are worrying about grocery bills, mortgage payments, and insurance premiums, fossil-fuel companies are making tens of billions of dollars in profits.
Meanwhile, governments are asking taxpayers to absorb the costs of increasingly expensive disasters.
Because when a wildfire destroys a community, we all pay.
We pay for firefighters and aircraft.
We pay for emergency shelters and evacuations.
We pay to rebuild roads, bridges and public infrastructure.
We pay when home insurance costs rise.
And we pay when governments borrow to clean up and rebuild after disasters. 
The question isn’t whether we should help families cope with high fuel prices. Of course we should.
The real question is: who should pay for the costs of climate disasters? 
Should it be families—paying more in insurance premiums, repair bills, and taxes—when they can barely make ends meet now?
Or should it be the fossil-fuel corporations making billions in profits off the products fuelling this crisis?
Northern Ontario families didn’t cause the wildfire crisis. They shouldn’t be the ones left paying the price.
Premier Ford should stop asking Ottawa for another temporary break at the gas pump and have the courage to ask a much more important question:
Why are Ontario taxpayers footing the bill for the destruction caused by a crisis that has generated billions in profits for oil companies?
Luke Hildebrand
Northern Co-Chair
President Kenora—Rainy River Ontario New Democratic Party
Co-President Kenora—Kiiwetinoong New Democratic Party