MPs hike gas and liquor tax while increasing their salary today. No joke!

Starting today, you'll pay more to drive your car, heat your home and sip your favourite booze.

Look for an extra 3.3 cents for a litre of gasoline as the national carbon emissions price increases from $65 per tonne to $80. And you'll pay 15 cents more per cubic metre of natural gas. 

In addition, buying liquor will also cost more starting today as the alcohol excise tax rises by two per cent. 

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the federal government for hiking carbon and alcohol taxes today as MPs increase their own pay.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making life more expensive today with his tax hikes,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “The feds should be providing relief, not hiking taxes that make Canadians’ lives more expensive.”

The carbon tax will cost the average family up to $911 more this year than they get back in rebates, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. 

The federal government also increased its excise tax on alcohol by two per cent without a vote in Parliament. This year’s federal alcohol tax increase will cost taxpayers $40 million says the Federation.

All members of Parliament took a raise today ranging between an extra $8,500 to $17,000. A backbench MP’s salary is now $203,100. A minister’s salary is $299,900, while the prime minister’s salary is now $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.”

The tax hikes come on the heels of a plan to push back the next election by a week so more MPs will be eligible for a generous pension.

See" Moving election means tens of millions in extra pensions in pockets of MPs

MPs are eligible for a pension after six years of service. MPs first elected in the 2019 election are not eligible for the pension until Oct. 21, 2025.

The federal government introduced legislation that would move the next scheduled election from Oct. 20 to Oct. 27, 2025. 

This would mean 80 additional MPs would be eligible to collect a pension. The additional pensions total $120 million. That is the estimated lifetime pension if all 80 MPs lose their seats.