P.E.I. fishermen, farmers to get carbon tax break: Premier

Gas used on P.E.I. farms or in the Island's fishing industry won't be charged a carbon tax, says Premier Wade MacLauchlan.

Agriculture and transportation accounts for 65 per cent of P.E.I.'s greenhouse gas emissions, but MacLauchlan said gas in the fishing and farming sectors will be exempt.

• P.E.I. carbon tax will mean big spike in gas prices
• Tories push Liberals on details of carbon tax
• Justin Trudeau gives provinces until 2018 to adopt carbon price plan

"They will do their part in other ways and in fact those are two sectors that we look forward to working with to see how we can actually get ahead and improve our margins and it's going to a real strong collaborative effort by everyone," he said Thursday.

P.E.I.'s carbon tax will be "fiscally neutral," by offering a combination of tax breaks and incentives for people to reduce their carbon footprint, MacLauchlan said.

Those incentives will include a home energy assessment retrofit program, launching in the first half of next year.

MacLauchlan described P.E.I.'s fight against climate change as being "like a war effort."

He said P.E.I. is working with NB Power to figure out how the carbon tax in New Brunswick will affect the Island's electricity price.

MacLauchlan also said PEI will adopt the National Building Code in the spring of 2018.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |CAA Atlantic warns effects of marijuana on motorists being underestimated
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |'I've never seen this': Wet weather leaves some soybeans unharvested