OTTAWA, ON: Canadians will temporarily benefit from lower gas taxes announced by the federal government today and Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to cut spending to make the tax relief permanent.

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has been pushing for gas tax relief for a long time and the government’s decision to cut taxes at the pumps will help a lot of people for a few months,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Cutting taxes is the fastest, simplest and easiest way for the government to make life more affordable and ease the pain of high gas prices.

“Now the government needs to cut wasteful spending so it can cut taxes permanently and make life more affordable for more than a few months.”

The federal government announced it is suspending the federal 10 cents per litre gas tax until Labour Day.

The federal government also charges sales tax on gasoline and diesel, and it imposes fuel regulations. Those fuel regulations currently cost up to seven cents per litre of gas.

The federal government needs to cut spending so it can stop the national debt from rising and make permanent tax cuts.

The federal government will borrow more than $65 billion this year, according to Budget 2025.

Debt interest charges will cost taxpayers $60 billion this year. That’s more than the federal government will send to the provinces in health transfers ($57.4 billion) or collect through the GST ($56.5 billion).

The 2026-27 Main Estimates show federal government spending is increasing by $17.7 billion compared to last year’s Main Estimates.

“Carney is right to cut gas taxes and now he needs to find savings to stop the debt from spiraling and make room for permanent tax cuts,” Terrazzano said. “That means the prime minister can’t spend half-a-million dollars on airplane food in one year, $90 billion on high-speed rail and billions on corporate welfare.

“Cutting taxes makes life more affordable and the government needs to cut spending so it can provide permanent relief for taxpayers.”