Poilievre turns to Parliament to force Trudeau to meet with premiers on the carbon tax

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is asking MPs to compel Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sit down with the premiers to dis‐ cuss the federal carbon tax at a first ministers' meet‐ ing.

Poilievre tabled a motion in the House of Commons that demands Trudeau "con‐ vene a carbon tax emergency meeting" with Canada's 13 provincial and territorial lead‐ ers to address the "ongoing carbon tax crisis and the fi‐ nancial burden it places on Canadians."

It also asks that Trudeau accept "plans for provinces to opt-out of the federal carbon tax to pursue other responsi‐ ble ideas to lower emissions" - an ongoing request of some premiers who maintain they can fight climate change in their jurisdictions through measures other than a tax.

Trudeau has so far rebuf‐ fed calls to meet with the premiers on the issue.

Last week, in an interview with CBC Radio's The Cur‐ rent, Trudeau said he met with the premiers in 2016 and a pan-Canadian climate change plan was agreed to then. The plan included a price of carbon designed to drive down the country's emissions.

He repeated that line in question period Tuesday, saying the provinces agreed to go ahead with a carbon pricing regime eight years ago.

The Conservatives coun‐ tered by pointing out that Trudeau is the only leader from that long-ago meeting still in power.

"Pokémon Go, dabbing, Harambe - that's what was popular in 2016," Conserva‐ tive deputy leader Melissa Lantsman said.

Poilievre accuses Trudeau of dodging the premiers

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill Tuesday, Poilievre said Trudeau is dodging a face-to-face with the premiers because he's "too scared."

"Trudeau is in hiding. Do you blame him? He's losing the debate. Canadians want to axe the tax. There is going to be a carbon tax election and whether Trudeau hides from me or not, he's going to have to face me in a carbon tax election," he said.

Later in the Commons, Poilievre touted the premier‐ s' meeting as a chance to force the federal government to change course.

"Let's grant relief to our people now," he said.

"Everybody understands that tax is driving people to the food bank. Will [the prime minister] agree to a televised carbon tax confer‐ ence if he's so sure of himself on this issue?" Poilievre asked of Trudeau.

WATCH: Poilievre and Trudeau trade barbs over carbon tax ahead of budget

Trudeau and Poilievre also traded shots by citing differ‐ ent Parliamentary Budget Of‐ ficer (PBO) reports about the financial effect the tax has on Canadians.

Trudeau pointed to a PBO report that found most households will see a net fis‐ cal gain - the federal rebate will more than cover what those households pay in car‐ bon taxes.

"We developed a way to fight climate change and re‐ duce emissions and put more money in peoples' pockets and we're going to continue doing that," Trudeau said.

But the PBO also said, in another report frequently cited by Poilievre, that when taking into account the knock-on economic effects of the carbon tax, most house‐ holds will actually see a net loss.

The PBO said the tax will have a negative effect on the larger economy, leading to a loss of employment and in‐ vestment income for some families.

The federal rebates won't be enough to offset both the tax and the slightly lower in‐ comes some Canadians will collect as a result of the levy, the PBO said.

That PBO report did not, however, consider the cost of doing nothing about climate change.

The motion to force a first ministers' meeting is the latest manoeuvre by Poilievre and his party to stir up oppo‐ sition to the carbon levy, which increased as planned on April 1 despite repeated Conservative attempts to de‐ lay the spike.

In an attempt to bring down the government over the carbon tax, the Conserva‐ tives introduced a non-confi‐ dence motion in the Com‐ mons before the two-week Easter break. It was soundly defeated when Bloc Québé‐ cois and NDP MP rallied to support the Liberals.

Most premiers publicly opposed the latest carbon tax hike, saying that at a time of high inflation and cost of living concerns, making fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and propane more expensive is unfair to cash-strapped con‐ sumers.

After the tax increase, people can expect to pay about three cents more for a litre of gas than they did last month.

The government's Canada carbon rebate, meanwhile, is designed to wholly compen‐ sate most consumers for ad‐ ditional costs imposed by the carbon levy.

A number of premiers, in‐ cluding Alberta's Danielle Smith, Ontario's Doug Ford and Nova Scotia's Tim Hous‐ ton, have called for a first ministers' meeting to hash out a way forward with a tax caught in the political crosshairs.

"I've been in constant communication on a daily basis with a number of pre‐ miers. We aren't happy about it, to say the least," Ford told reporters on Friday. "He needs to sit down with us."

"The carbon tax has con‐ tributed to increasing stress and financial pain for millions of Canadians," Smith wrote in a letter to the prime minister on Thursday. She also urged him to "act immediately to convene a first ministers' meeting."

While the federal govern‐ ment agreed to lift the tax on home heating oil last year to help mostly rural consumers who rely on this fuel source, Trudeau and federal Environ‐ ment Minister Steven Guil‐ beault have said repeatedly they will not entertain any other exemptions to tax, which is the centrepiece of the Liberal government's cli‐ mate change policy.

WATCH: Energy minister says premiers should bring forward a 'realistic propos‐ al' to replace carbon tax

Liberal MP Adam van Ko‐ everden, the parliamentary secretary to Guilbeault, ag‐ gressively pushed back against Poilievre's motion Tuesday. He called the Con‐ servative leader a climatechange denier who threatens the country's future.

He also called Poilievre "the petro-puppet from Car‐ leton," a reference to his rur‐ al Ottawa riding.

"He's never earned an honest red cent in his life. The only job he's had is here in the House of Commons," van Koeverden said. He called Poilievre an MP with "no expertise" on climate is‐ sues and accused him of irre‐ sponsibly whipping up anxi‐ ety about a levy that will help Canada achieve its environ‐ mental targets,

"I know they don't believe in climate change, but Cana‐ dians do," the Ontario MP said of Conservatives.

Van Koeverden pointed to last year's devastating wild‐ fires - natural disasters that cost the country roughly $1.5 billion in economic losses - as justification for a tax that is designed to encourage Cana‐ dians to pick cleaner and greener fuel sources.

"Climate change is an ex‐ istential threat to our economy and our livelihoods and Conservatives want to ig‐ nore it," van Koeverden said.

Natural Resources Minis‐ ter Jonathan Wilkinson said Ottawa is prepared to meet with premiers on climate matters if they have "thoughts about a realistic proposal."

Right now, Wilkinson said, there's a lot of political pos‐ turing about the carbon tax, with few suggestions for an alternative arrangement that would meaningfully curb emissions.

"Having a conversation with a bunch of folks who ac‐ tually have no climate plan and no plan to actually ad‐ dress the climate issue is pretty hard ..." he said.

In addition to six of the 10 premiers and the Conserva‐ tive Opposition, Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, also en‐ dorsed the idea of a first ministers' conference on the topic, but suggested the agenda for such a meeting should include more than just the federal carbon tax.

Speaking on Monday to an event organized by Cana‐ da 2020, a progressive think tank, Carney emphasized the importance of decarboniza‐ tion and positioning Canada as a world leader in green energy.

"Given the events over the past year, we need to reestablish the consensus for this imperative," Carney said. "And so I very much welcome Premier Smith's suggestion of a First Ministers meeting on climate. She was a little more narrowly focused, but I think it could be broadened out."

But Carney, who also served as governor of the Bank of England, suggested that all levels of government should come to that meeting with tangible analysis in hand - and with a commitment to maintain a level of stringency in Canadian climate policy.

"In addition, what I would suggest in those discussions, and going forward, is that governments of all levels focus on and publish carbon value-for-money assessmen‐ ts of their policies. So, in oth‐ er words, the impact of those policies," he said.

"And that they follow a basic principle. Given the competitive environment globally, given the social im‐ perative, given our responsi‐ bilities to our children, but they follow a basic principle that if they're going to take a policy out, they need to put something else in that's at least as effective."