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."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Ontario man loses $1,500 applying for Nexus cards on social media
The trusted traveller program between Canada and the United States is extremely popular and almost two million Canadians have a Nexus card.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.