Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are meeting in Calgary on Wednesday as pushback grows from provincial premiers to a planned carbon price increase.
The federal backstop is set to rise from $65 a tonne to $80 a tonne on April 1. This means the fuel charge on gasoline will go from 14.3 cents per litre to 17.6 cents.
“We’ve now seen seven premiers have suggested that we need a pause on April 1, so I’m very hopeful that we can maybe come to some solution on that and address issues of affordability,” Smith said during a photo-op prior to the meeting with Trudeau Wednesday morning.
“Obviously, we will also talk about pricing pollution and making sure we’re protecting future generations and jobs. I’ll highlight that as of the beginning of April, the average family of four in Alberta will get $1,800 a year Canada Carbon Rebate. That’s money in people’s pockets even as we fight climate change,” Trudeau replied.
Smith highlighted work on the Trans Mountain Pipeline, net-zero energy and cement projects, plus Indigenous economic development opportunities as additional priorities in the meeting.
On Trudeau’s end, he said he’s looking forward to talk about childcare and dentalcare in the meeting.
On Tuesday, Liberal Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey wrote a letter to Trudeau and posted it on X, calling on a pause for plans to increase the carbon price.
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Furey wrote that while his government is “deeply invested” in environmental sustainability, the increase set for April 1 “is causing understandable worry as people consider how they will manage the mounting financial strain.”
This letter was reposted on X by Smith, along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.
Later that day, Progressive Conservative Premier Tim Houston posted his own letter to Trudeau on X, saying the increase should be cancelled.
Houston wrote that while government has a role in addressing climate change and reducing emissions, the increase only means “more money out of (Nova Scotian’s) pockets to pay an unnecessary carbon tax.”
Both premiers said the increase means higher prices to ship goods to and across their respective provinces.
In an emailed statement, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s communications advisor Jesse Bartsoff said the carbon price contributes “as much as one-third” to Canada’s emission reduction targets for 2030.
“This is the most cost-effective way to protect our communities—from Atlantic hurricanes and flooding to wildfires across the country—and make life more affordable with the Canada Carbon Rebate,” Bartsoff wrote.
This is the latest chapter in the growing provincial pushback on the carbon price.
At the beginning of this year, Saskatchewan stopped collecting and paying the carbon price on home heating in response to Ottawa’s three-year pause on the charge for home heating oil.
Last week while in Montreal, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault called the move “immoral” suggesting it’s one thing to debate policy but another to break a federal law.
The federal government has signalled this may reduce the amount Saskatchewan families receive in carbon rebates since they cannot pay back money that isn’t collected.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been heavily naming the carbon price as a core contributor to the current cost-of-living crisis and has vowed to get rid of the pricing plan if his party forms the next government.
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