Cape Breton senior fears losing his home due to carbon tax costs

Bernie Larusic and his wife have lived in their Sydey, N.S., home for the better part of three decades.

Bernie Larusic and his wife are in their late 80's and have lived in their home atop Hardwood Hill in Sydney, N.S., for the better part of three decades.

"And now – boom,” Larusic said. “May have to move out of it because of that or get rid of it -- downsize, as they say."

Larusic’s main beef is with the new carbon tax.

He said between what it now costs to put gas in his vehicle, and what the couple will pay to heat their home next winter, it will take up about half his pension cheque that he earned over a 35-year career.

"That's hellish,” the 87-year-old said. “I've been living in it now since we built this house 26 years ago."

The government is offering rebates to try to help people cope with the added costs.

In Nova Scotia, the federal carbon tax rebate will provide individuals with $124 quarterly, and twice that amount for a family of four.

On Prince Edward Island, the rebate is a few dollars fewer.

In New Brunswick though, the amount plummets to $92 for an individual, and $184 for a family of four.

The head of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Terrazzano, says none of it is enough.

"According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the carbon tax will cost the average family in Atlantic Canada somewhere between about $350 and $465 this year even after the rebates,” Terrazzano said.

There's also a grocery rebate.

Scheduled to be issued on Wednesday, alongside the latest quarterly GST or HST credit payment, a couple with two children could receive up to $467.

A single person with no children could get about half that amount.

"The government is trying to dub this as a grocery rebate, but Trudeau's carbon taxes are making groceries more expensive,” Terrazzano said.

Back at his home in Sydney, Larusic and his wife say keeping the fridge full will also be more difficult -- especially given seniors, at $225 on average, are on the low end of the grocery rebate.

“Suffer in silence, I guess,” Larusic said. “You can bitch, bawl, screech and holler all you want, but it doesn’t seem to be listened to by the higher authority.”

Larusic added he's speaking out not only for himself, but for the many others he said are in a financial squeeze that's even worse.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.