Premiers ‘playing politics’ through criticism, PM says

Trudeau says provinces failing to offer other solutions to lower emissions

Most of Canada’s premiers would rather complain and “make political hay” out of the federal carbon pricing program than propose viable alternatives for reducing emissions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday as his government ignored calls to forgo its latest increase.

Trudeau was responding to Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey’s call for an “emergency meeting of leaders,” just the latest of several last-ditch provincial efforts to forestall a higher fuel levy.

Furey, the lone Liberal premier left in the country, is among several Atlantic leaders who joined with their counterparts in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan in pushing Trudeau to abandon his planned $15-per-tonne increase, which went into effect Monday.

Many of them have long opposed any carbon levy, but say the affordability crisis plaguing Canadians is reason enough not to increase it further. Manitoba NDP Premier Wab Kinew confirmed last week that he too is working on a request for his province to be exempted.

Trudeau says the increase will al- so mean larger quarterly rebate cheques, which families are next set to receive on April 15 to help offset the higher cost of fuel.

The premiers, Trudeau told a news conference Monday in To- ronto, have failed to propose any alternatives. “All those premiers that are busy complaining about the price on pollution, but not put- ting forward a concrete alternative that they think would be better for their communities, are just playing politics,” he said.

In a letter to Trudeau, Furey de- fended the actions taken by his province to date to lower green- house gas emissions, saying Ottawa is going to have a to make a “larger strategic investment” if it hopes to have “any meaningful impact” on Canada’s carbon output. “The threat of climate change is press- ing,” he wrote. “There is wide con- sensus that decarbonization is im- perative; no serious counter-argu- ments remain. The only question is how best, at this time, to do so.”

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who last week testified before a par- liamentary committee about his opposition to the increase, tweeted Monday that the only way to pre- vent future increases is a change in government.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poi- lievre, who is riding high over the Liberals in public opinion polls, has challenged Trudeau to make the next federal vote a “carbon tax elec- tion.” That election must take place on or before Oct. 20, 2025.

Poilievre has also spent the last month hosting “axe the tax” rallies across the country with the same message. He was to hold a news conference Monday in Nanaimo, B.C., before an evening rally.

At around noon Monday, dozens of people were gathered on Parliament Hill, some waving “axe the tax” signs, while others draped themselves in Canadian flags or expletive-laced messages about the prime minister.

Trudeau and other carbon pricing proponents say critics are ignoring the fact that Canadian families receive quarterly rebate cheques, which are more generous to lowincome households, to help them offset the upfront costs.

They also point to the costs climate change has imposed on Canadians through disasters such as wildfires or floods.

Last week, some 200 economists and academics from universities across the country released an open letter defending carbon pricing as the most low-cost way to reduce emissions.

Trudeau has accused conservative premiers of lying about the policy’s affect on inflation and has challenged his provincial critics to present alternative plans to reduce emissions.