P.E.I. misses carbon levy deadline

The P.E.I. Legislature missed an April 1 deadline for an increase to the federal carbon levy, but the resulting increase in gas prices is expected within a few days.

MLAs didn't get to the third-reading stage for the bill to implement the changes by the end of the session Thursday.

"The price adjustments outlined in the bill will be implemented once the legislature completes its work on the bill including passing third reading," said the province in a statement.

The province has said the federal government is allowing P.E.I. some leeway on the carbon tax deadline, given that the provincial change is in the works, so Ottawa will not move to implement any change on its own.

The increased levy, coming into effect across Canada Friday, adds 4.4 cents to the current 6.63 cents. On P.E.I., with HST thrown in, the pump price would go up 5.1 cents.

The war in Ukraine created nervousness on world oil markets in March, leading to volatility in prices at the pump for P.E.I. consumers.

Fuel price reviews by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission are scheduled for Fridays on the Island, but the prices changed 10 times in March, most recently on Wednesday.

The minimum price for a litre of self-serve regular gasoline peaked at $1.86 on March 8. A decrease on Wednesday put it at $1.67.

The increased carbon levy would have increased that to $1.72. IRAC did not make any changes in its regular review of prices for April 1.