Sask. holding up $900M deal: Trudeau
SASKATOON Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fired a fresh salvo in his war of words with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe by bringing up the conditional promise of almost $1 billion in new federal infrastructure funding.
Speaking to reporters in Saskatoon on the final day of the Liberal Party of Canada’s caucus retreat, Trudeau took aim at Saskatchewan’s apparent unwillingness to sign an agreement to deliver the money.
“We have $900 million allocated at the federal level for investing in infrastructure here in Saskatchewan,” Trudeau told reporters during his only news conference of the three-day planning and strategizing retreat.
“The only thing we’re waiting for is for the province to actually step up and sign the bilateral agreement,” he added, noting that Saskatchewan is the only province or territory not to have inked such a deal with Ottawa.
Trudeau spoke one day after Moe described their respective governments’ relationship on economic issues as “frosty,” and hours after he accused the prime minister of mischaracterizing their 45-minute meeting Wednesday.
“It’s your decision if you want to listen to the concerns of western Canadians, or not,” Moe wrote on Twitter, echoing his earlier suggestion that the Liberals’ performance on climate change and pipelines raises questions about Saskatchewan’s place in the federation.
Neither side appears willing to back down in what has become a protracted battle over the federal government’s climate change plan.
Under that plan, the provinces have an opportunity to develop their own carbon pricing scheme, which Ottawa can replace with a “backstop” price of $20 per tonne of carbon emitted on Jan. 1 should it deem their plan inadequate.
Earlier this year, the Saskatchewan government filed a reference case on the plan’s constitutionality with the provincial appeals court. Last month, the Saskatchewan government refused to submit its own plan for review by the Sept. 1 deadline.
While Moe contends the “carbon tax” will strip $1 billion from the provincial economy and hurt important industries, Trudeau’s government maintains that fighting climate change is crucial for its own sake, and to expand the economy.
In an interview this week, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Andrew Scheer suggested that, a year out from the next general election, the Liberals are struggling to gain traction because of their commitment to carbon pricing.
“Even those provinces where there are still NDP or Liberal governments who are in power, even they are backing away from the carbon tax,” he said, referring to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s decision to pull out of the federal carbon pricing plan in response to pipeline concerns.
The court has yet to deliver a ruling, and may not before Jan. 1, but Trudeau was quick to blast “a pattern of conservatives not putting forward responsible plans on fighting climate change” when speaking with reporters on Thursday.
“The time has long since passed to debate. We need to fight climate change and we need to take real action. I certainly hope to work in concert with, in partnership with, all provinces but like I’ve said, if a province is unwilling to do what is necessary, the federal government will act.”
The prime minister received a much more tepid response when he took part in a town-hall meeting with several hundred Saskatchewan Polytechnic students, his last scheduled event in Saskatoon this week. During the 45-minute question-and-answer session, Trudeau — in his shirt sleeves and a tie — fielded questions on a range of topics, from pipelines and carbon
If a province is unwilling to do what is necessary, the federal government will act.
pricing to immigration and the looming legalization of cannabis.
While the prime minister didn’t stumble, even when a student accused him of neglecting veterans and their families, applause was limited and dozens of people left as the late-starting, late-afternoon town hall played out.
As the session drew to a close, however, dozens more students, cellphones out, swarmed the prime minister with the hope of getting selfies.