Filling up your fuel tank in New Brunswickers is more than a pit stop. It’s a harsh reminder that gas taxes are draining your wallet.

New Brunswick gas prices are up nearly 40 per cent from about this time last year.

That’s why it’s time for Premier Susan Holt to act and cut provincial gas taxes.

Overall, about a quarter of the price you pay at the pump is tax.

At 46 cents per litre, filling a sedan with a 64-litre tank costs about $30 in gas taxes alone.

Now imagine being one of the many New Brunswickers who rely on a pickup truck for work or need to shuttle kids to hockey in a minivan. The tax burden only gets heavier, making every trip to the pump more painful.

New Brunswickers are set to see some relief with Prime Minister Mark Carney announcing that the federal 10 cents per litre tax will be suspended next week until Labour Day.

But on top of other federal tax, the provincial government is continuing to charge a 10.9 cents per litre tax.

As well, the province is still charging the tax-on-tax. Here’s how that works: instead of applying the harmonized sales tax to the base price of gasoline, the province will continue to charge the HST on top of the price after other taxes have already been added.

This sneaky, underhanded method allows for the government to grab even more of your hard-earned money by making you pay tax on the tax you’ve already paid.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

In neighbouring Newfoundland and Labrador, then-premier Andrew Furey cut the provincial gas tax by 7.5 cents per litre in June 2022.

What started as a temporary measure was extended every year for the rest of Furey’s term.

And after the Progressive Conservatives won last fall, Premier Tony Wakeham’s government recently passed legislation making the cut permanent.

That means Newfoundlanders and Labradorians save more than $30 million annually in gas taxes over the last four years and will keep saving for years to come.

New Brunswick should follow suit.

And the Holt government can afford it by cutting waste, controlling spending and ending its habit of making taxpayers pay for government’s lack of discipline.

First, the province should stop handing out corporate welfare. New Brunswickers taxpayers are on the hook for more than $74 million annually in business subsidies. That money should go toward broad-based tax relief, not politically favoured deals.

Secondly, the province should tackle bloated government compensation costs. Salaries and wages are the largest line item in the budget. Research shows government employees in Canada earn an 8.5 per cent wage premium over private-sector workers. Bringing compensation more in line with the private sector through attrition and reform could save another $491 million.

Thirdly, Holt should launch a full review of government spending to find savings and know exactly where to cut.

Newfoundland and Labrador formed an independent committee to tackle its fiscal challenges in 2020. The resulting report identified $3.6 billion in potential savings over six years, giving the province a path to balance its books while reducing debt and keeping taxes in check.

If New Brunswick could even achieve half that level of savings, the province could stop racking up debt and still have room for meaningful tax relief.

If government stopped wasting your money, it could afford to give you a break at the pumps without sacrificing essential services.

And gas taxes don’t just hurt at the pump.

Everything in the grocery store got there on a truck. Fuel taxes are baked into the cost of everything, especially in rural parts of the province. Businesses facing higher fuel costs pass them on in the price of everything from bananas to plywood.

That’s why it’s time for the Holt government to provide meaningful relief at the gas pump.

Holt has a clear path forward: cut the waste, slash the gas tax and help New Brunswickers keep more of their hard-earned money.