Carbon tax protesters rally on highway west of Calgary

Protesters against Ottawa's recent raise of the carbon tax have set up a rally west of Calgary and it's created a huge back up on the Trans-Canada Highway.

The event, organized by a group called Nationwide Protest Against Carbon Tax, is one of 15 happening across the country on Monday.

According to the group's website, its goal is the "Immediate removal of the carbon tax, without replacement by any other form of taxation."

The rally began at 8 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 22 near Cochrane.

As of 7:45 a.m., around a dozen RVs were set up beside the highway, and vehicles with Canada flags were assembling.

Several RCMP vehicles were also parked nearby.

By noon, the protest shifted to the highway itself, blocking one lane of traffic on the route, creating a big backup.

The group's website says it hopes to maintain at least one centre lane open for traffic and to continue the event until goals are achieved, "regardless of duration."

The protests come as the federal government raised the price of carbon from $65 per tonne to $80 per tonne on April 1.

The tax hike has been a significant attack point for conservatives, and several premiers, including Alberta's, have called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cancel the increase.

RCMP say drivers should be aware of potential delays and disruptions on Highway 1 west of Cochrane and should consider alternate routes to avoid them.

"Alberta RCMP and partner organizations will be present to ensure that the impact on travellers will be minimized and to ensure traffic disruption will not affect public safety.," officials said in a news release.

Just after 5:30 p.m., RCMP advised that traffic was being diverted on Highway 1 west of Cochrane. But in another update around 7:30 p.m., RCMP said the diversion had ended and traffic was flowing normally in both directions.

Tax hikes 'wrong', organization says

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the federal government's move to increase its carbon and alcohol taxes on April 1 is the "wrong" move when costs are increasing for all Canadians.

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making life more expensive today with his tax hikes,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF's federal director, in a news release. “The feds should be providing relief, not hiking taxes that make Canadians’ lives more expensive.”

The CTF says the increased taxes will cost Canadians $911 more than what they see in rebates and the alcohol tax will cost taxpayers $40 million.

In the meantime, it said all MPs received a raise of between $8,500 and $17,000 on April 1, meaning a backbench MP's salary is now $203,100, a minister's salary is $299,900 and the prime minister is earning $406,200.

"MPs are taking more money out of Canadians’ pockets and stuffing more money into their own and that’s wrong," Terrazzano said.

"MPs should be providing tax relief, not hiking taxes and their own pay."