The Wildrose party wants Albertans to understand what's coming down the line.

January 1 the new carbon tax will kick in and Livingstone MacLeod MLA Pat Stier says it's more than just the obvious direct costs.

"The government may talk about how it's only going to affect people in terms of their heating bills and their transportation bills, that's not correct," he says. "Every goods and service that we use today is usually hauled by truck or by plane or by train or something like that."

He says the party wants people to realize it's all kinds of items not just the main two.

"People do, most of their lives, particularly in southern Alberta, have to travel as a regular part of their life, whether it's health appointment or to go to business appointments, from here and there and different towns and sometimes into the city, so this is where it will really hit hard," he says.

He says small businesses strive to be competitive and rural towns will have a tough time being competitive when they're faces with increasing costs and the mass merchandisers are starting to open in those towns, like High River and Okotoks.

Stier says every store or restaurant will be impacted and that means they'll have to raise their prices to compensate and the effect will trickle down the line for everyone.

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