Notley to Clark: Not so fast on coal tax

Alberta premier doubts whether B.C. has authority to impose such a measure

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is pouring cold water on B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark’s election promise to put a hefty carbon tax on thermal coal.

Notley, a New Democrat, said she doesn’t think Clark would have the necessary power to pull it off if re-elected.

“We don’t think she actually has the authority to do it. And we would argue that … something that would impact Alberta’s export industry like that is, of course, bad news for Albertans,” Notley said Wednesday.

Clark has proposed the $70-per-tonne tax on coal shipped through B.C. as a way to get back at the United States for softwoodlumber duties.

Of the 6.6 million tonnes of thermal coal shipped last year through B.C. to China for power generation, 94 per cent came from the United States.

Clark said such a tax would make the product “utterly uncompetitive in the global market,” thus putting pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump to reconsider the softwood duties.

But Alberta also ships coal through B.C. and would be affected by any tax.

On Tuesday, Clark defended her position.

“We all need to be concerned about climate change,” she said.

“In Alberta, they say they’re concerned about climate change. Here’s an opportunity for them to them to help make sure that we all join that fight together,” Clark said.

Notley said reactions to the softwood-lumber dispute need to come from all the provinces through Ottawa.

“We will continue to try to engage in thoughtful, pan-Canadian conversations with all provinces, including B.C. and, of course, the federal government that has most of the authority and the ability to act on these matters,” she said.

Notley has had to tread carefully as the election campaign has played out next door.

Clark is an ally of Alberta in her support of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which would carry oil to the coast for export overseas.

The NDP in B.C. has promised to do whatever it can to stop the project, which already has been approved by the federal government.

Earlier in the campaign, Notley told Alberta government workers that they shouldn’t be campaigning for any party opposed to a project that is so key to the province’s economic interests.