Repeal food taxes
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to repeal taxes on food, including industrial carbon pricing, food‑packaging levies and the fuel standard that adds $0.17/litre, end taxes passed at checkout and avoid inflationary deficits. The government responds that basic groceries are GST‑exempt, it removed the consumer carbon price, introduced targeted grocery benefits and retains industrial pricing.
Why we would sign this petition
- Removing the named food and fuel charges would directly lower prices at the pump and the grocery store, easing cost‑of‑living pressure for households.
- Ending taxes passed at checkout, including on farm equipment, fertilizer and processors, could limit cost pass‑through along the supply chain.
- Emphasizing deficit avoidance signals fiscal discipline and could reduce inflationary pressures while preserving capacity for targeted supports.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Repealing industrial carbon pricing and clean‑fuel rules could remove incentives for emissions reductions and investments in lower‑carbon fuels and technologies.
- Some targeted measures may already be exempt or addressed—basic groceries are GST‑exempt and the government says there is no food‑packaging tax—so the petition may be unnecessary or misdirected.
- Eliminating tax revenue risks reducing fiscal capacity, possibly forcing cuts or alternative funding that would conflict with the petition’s goal of fiscal responsibility.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA WHEREAS: Residents of Edmonton Alberta continue to face economic pressures caused by the cost-of- living crisis; Food costs are now up 6.2%, with groceries up 5.0% and restaurant meals up 8.5% year-over-year; and Everyday an increasing amount of Edmontonians struggle to make the basic ends meet. WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, citizens of Canada, CALL UPON THE Government of Canada to: 1. Repeal all domestic taxes on food including the industrial carbon tax, the food packaging tax, and the Liberal fuel standard that adds 17 cents per litre of gas; 2. Remove all taxes that are passed on to the consumer at check out including the industrial carbon tax on farm equipment, fertilizer, and food processors; and 3. Prioritize responsible fiscal management by avoiding inflationary deficits.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Finance and National Revenue Signed by The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne The Government of Canada is committed to building a stronger, more independent, more resilient economy where Canadians are empowered with greater security, certainty, and a lower cost of living. Recent measures to help lower the cost of living for Canadians include: Middle-class tax cut:The federal government is proud to be delivering on its middle-class tax cut, which is providing tax relief for 22 million Canadians, by lowering the first marginal personal income tax rate from 15?percent to 14?percent. This tax cut will save individuals up to $420 and two-income families up to $840 this year and is expected to deliver over $27 billion in tax savings to Canadians over five years, starting in 2025-26. Removing the consumer carbon price: Effective April 1, 2025, the government cancelled the federal fuel charge and removed requirements for provinces and territories to have a consumer-facing carbon price as of that date. These actions helped Canadians save money from the price they were paying at the pump in most provinces and territories. With the removal of the federal fuel charge, the government provided a final quarterly Canada Carbon Rebate payment starting in April 2025 to eligible households. On March 12, 2026, the Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act, received royal assent. The Act sequentially repeals Part 1 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and Fuel Charge Regulations, which permanently removes the consumer carbon price from federal law. The government is winding down mechanisms used to return direct fuel charge proceeds to Canadians, small and medium-sized businesses, farmers, and Indigenous governments. Temporarily suspending the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel: The federal government suspended the fuel excise tax on gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels from April 20, 2026, to September 7, 2026. This is expected to provide fuel price relief at the pump for Canadians. It will also reduce operating costs for truckers and businesses in the food, agriculture, housing, construction, and delivery sectors. In total, through removing the consumer carbon price and suspending the federal fuel excise tax, the government has reduced the price of gasoline by up to 28 cents. With respect to food, basic groceries are already not subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Basic groceries include fruits and vegetables, eggs, breakfast cereals, most milk products, as well as fresh meat, poultry and fish. Foods considered to be basic groceries generally comprise a large share of consumers’ grocery purchases. Specific tax relief from the GST is provided for low- and modest-income Canadians through the GST Credit rather than excluding more items from the tax base. The GST Credit helps offset the sales tax burden of low- and modest-income families and individuals, thereby ensuring that sales tax burdens are sensitive to differences in income and family type. Introducing the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit: The federal government recently introduced the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit to help more than 12 million low- and modest-income Canadians afford day-to-day essentials. The Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit builds on the existing GST Credit and will provide $11.7 billion in additional support over six years through: A one-time top-up payment to be issued June 5, 2026, equal to a 50% increase in the annual 2025-26 value of the GST Credit. This delivers $3.1 billion in assistance to individuals and families who currently get the GST Credit. An increase in the value of the GST Credit of 25% for five years starting in July 2026. This increase delivers $8.6 billion in additional support over five years, starting in 2026-27, including to 500,000 new individuals and families. A one-time top-up payment to be issued June 5, 2026, equal to a 50% increase in the annual 2025-26 value of the GST Credit. This delivers $3.1 billion in assistance to individuals and families who currently get the GST Credit. An increase in the value of the GST Credit of 25% for five years starting in July 2026. This increase delivers $8.6 billion in additional support over five years, starting in 2026-27, including to 500,000 new individuals and families. Combined, this means that a family of four will receive up to $1,890 this year, and about $1,400 a year for the next four years. A single person will receive up to $950 this year, and about $700 for the next four years. The government is continually reviewing means by which to improve the tax system while taking into account competing priorities and available fiscal resources. The active participation of Canadians is an integral part of efforts to ensure that the tax system is as fair and effective as possible. The government remains firmly committed to its two fiscal anchors, introduced in Budget 2025: balancing operating spending with revenues by 2028-29, and maintaining a declining deficit-to-GDP ratio. The Spring Economic Update 2026 reaffirms this commitment, with an operating budget projected to remain balanced in 2028-29 and beyond, shifting the composition of spending toward investments that will grow the economy. The Spring Economic Update 2026 projects a deficit in 2025-26 that is $11.5 billion lower than the level projected in Budget 2025. As a share of the economy, the deficit is projected to continue to decline in each year, with deficit-to-GDP ratios that remain at or better than those projected in Budget 2025. Indeed, Canada continues to have one of the lowest deficit-to-GDP ratios—and the lowest net-debt-to-GDP ratio—in the G7. This responsible approach to fiscal management helps maintain Canada’s fiscal advantage and gives the government the capacity to act—including through targeted investments—to build a stronger economy to make life more affordable for Canadians. Response by the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature Signed by The Honourable JULIE DABRUSIN Industrial Carbon Pricing Industrial carbon pricing drives investment to reduce emissions and build the competitiveness of Canadian business. It is expected to deliver more emission reductions than any other policy, with negligible impacts on affordability for Canadians. The federal Output-Based Pricing System is the federal government’s industrial carbon pricing system, which currently applies in Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Nunavut. All other provinces and territories implement their own carbon pricing systems and have flexibility to design them according to their unique circumstances, as long as they meet minimum national stringency criteria set by the federal government. Under the Output-Based Pricing System, facilities are assigned emissions limits based on performance standards. Facilities that emit less than their limit earn credits, while those that exceed the limit must provide compensation. This ensures that a carbon price signal applies to every tonne of emissions from covered facilities while minimizing impacts on production costs and reducing the risk of costs being passed through to consumers. The Output-Based Pricing System does not apply to most farms or small businesses. In addition, the Government has implemented targeted measures to support the agriculture sector, including programs to support efficiency improvements and innovation. These measures are intended to ensure that farmers remain competitive while contributing to emissions reductions. Independent analyses have found that industrial carbon pricing has a nearly imperceptible impact on food prices because industrial pricing does not apply to much of the food supply chain and is specifically designed to limit costs to industry. Food packaging tax The Government does not have a tax on food packaging, nor does it have any plans to impose a food packaging tax. Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations In 2022, as part of Canada’s evidence-based and comprehensive plan to reduce plastic pollution, the Government introduced the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations to phase out six categories of single-use plastics that are commonly found in the environment as pollution, pose a threat to wildlife and their habitats, are difficult to recycle and have readily available alternatives. The Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations prohibit the manufacture, import and sale of single-use plastic checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics, ring carriers, stir sticks, and straws (with exceptions). It should be noted that the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations are not a tax on food packaging but are instead a ban on particularly problematic single-use plastic products. The Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations does not apply to packaging. The Government of Canada has developed a guidance document outlining important considerations when selecting alternative products or systems to the prohibited items that prevent plastic pollution and help Canada transition to a circular economy. Reduction strategies and reusable alternatives to single-use plastic items are identified as preferable in terms of overall long-term costs and environmental impacts. Regulatory Impact From the 6 prohibited items alone, the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations have spurred market innovations and will eliminate 782 million garbage bags of plastic waste and pollution by 2032 reducing the risk of ecological harm to wildlife and their habitats and resulting in over $600 million in avoided clean-up and pollution costs by 2032. Clean Fuel Regulations The Clean Fuel Regulations protect the environment and human health by significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and incent investments in clean technologies and clean fuels. The Clean Fuel Regulations is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by lowering the carbon intensity of gasoline and diesel used in Canada. They apply to producers and importers of fossil fuels, not to households or farmers directly. The Clean Fuel Regulations is not a tax, the same way that taking the lead out of gasoline was not a tax. There is no charge per litre and no money collected by the government. Compliance is flexible, allowing regulated parties to choose the most cost-effective options available to them. The price impact of the regulations is not fixed by government. It depends on the compliance choices made by fuel producers. Third party analysis commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada in 2023 found that the fuel price impacts from the Clean Fuel Regulations would be very low in the early years and would only increase by an estimated 4.3 cents per litre of gasoline once the Clean Fuel Regulations reaches maximum stringency in 2030. The Clean Fuel Regulations is supporting 10 of billions of dollars of investments in clean fuels and technologies across Canada, including hydrogen, Carbon Capture and Storage and low carbon fuels. It also has significant benefits for agricultural feedstock providers, including Canadian canola farmers.