A visit from the prime minister to the province this week put federal policies and politics front and centre at the Saskatchewan legislature.

Justin Trudeau met the media in Saskatoon on Monday, and told reporters Saskatchewan people would continue to receive their full carbon rebates despite the Saskatchewan government’s decision not to remit carbon tax on home heating.

Trudeau was also the subject of an attack ad against the provincial NDP by the Saskatchewan Party that was sent out as a robotext to Saskatchewan cellphone owners on Tuesday.

The video ad starts with the text “the NDP is Trudeau’s choice for Saskatchewan.” The ad uses photos from Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck’s trip to Ottawa last week. It claims that Beck attended a meeting to plot a strategy to get Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh re-elected.

A composite image is shown of the three leaders sitting at a table with a blue backdrop. Each met individually with the Canadian Labour Congress but were not in the room together.

The CLC held a meeting last week to “to discuss how they will advance the rights of workers.” The CLC news release is titled “labour reps discuss election strategy and union momentum.”

Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party have taken that and turned it into a political talking point and ad.

In question period on Tuesday, Moe responded to an affordability question from Beck and said the federal carbon tax was an issue.

“Makes me wonder why that leader and members of that caucus answered the call to arms to attend the Trudeau campaign school to keep that individual in place that is going to continue to increase the affordability challenges that Saskatchewan and Canadian families are facing today, far into the future,” Moe said.

Ads meant to distract: Beck

When asked by reporters about the ad, Beck said, “I grew up on a farm, I know a little B.S. when I see it.”

Beck said the ads are meant to “distract” from issues in health care, education and the economy.

“I’m proud of the meetings that we had,” Beck said Monday. “We were in Ottawa talking about jobs, the economy.”  

Beck said she did not meet with Trudeau but did meet with federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. She said she expressed her opposition to the federal consumer carbon tax.

“The consumer carbon tax is simply not on for us. The carve-out around heating fuel was unfair.”

WATCH | Sask. residents to keep carbon rebate: 

Feds, Sask. differ on carbon tax collection consequences

The “carve-out” Beck is referring to is the exemption on heating oil the federal government applied last year which affects mostly Atlantic Canadians.

The policy choice rankled the Saskatchewan government and leaders in other provinces who called it unfair.

However, Saskatchewan took the issue further by no longer collecting carbon tax on home heating through SaskEnegry as of January. It then successfully applied to the Canada Revenue Agency becoming the administrator and distributor of natural gas in the province  

LISTEN | CBC’s Political Panel discusses Trudeau’s carbon rebate decision and Sask. Party ads

Following that decision, the province announced it would no longer remit a carbon levy owed to the federal government ($172 million in 2022).

That decision caused a response from federal cabinet ministers. Federal environment minister Steven Guilbeault called it “immoral” and “irresponsible” and said it was against the law.

Federal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said people in the province “would no longer get the rebate.”

Wilkinson said the provincial government’s position was “almost unheard of” in Canada. He would later say the rebates could be scaled back and said there would be “consequences.” 

‘Good luck’ arguing with CRA: Trudeau

On Tuesday, Trudeau said people in Saskatchewan paying the carbon tax would not have their rebate touched.

“Premier Moe has decided that he does not want to pay the money to CRA that he is owing. We will not penalize the people of Saskatchewan or in any jurisdiction for that.”

The following day, he was asked about the repercussions of Saskatchewan’s decision.

“I don’t know about you, but having an argument with CRA about not wanting to pay your taxes is not a position I want anyone to be in. Good luck with that, Premier Moe,” Trudeau said in Oakville, Ont. on Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, Minister for SaskEnergy Dustin Duncan said he does not “feel worried” about consequences.

Duncan said proposed legislation in the federal budget suggests the federal government cannot easily collect money owed by not remitting the carbon levy.

“There is some language that talks about ensuring the minister responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency can share information with other government ministries or departments. My read of that would be that they might not have the ability they think they have, but we’ll wait to see. We haven’t seen the legislation yet.”

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The Conservative leader is facing questions after stopping to cheer on an anti-carbon tax convoy camp near the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where he bluntly accused the prime minister of lying about “everything.”

In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Pierre Poilievre of welcoming “the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists.”

In videos posted to social media, the Opposition leader is seen thanking and encouraging protesters who have camped out in what some participants have described as a convoy-style “hold the line protest” since the carbon tax increase on April 1 — a nod to the 2022 convoy protest in downtown Ottawa.

In video filmed by the protesters, who have been living at the site for three weeks, Poilievre tells the group to “keep it up” and calls their protest “a good, old-fashioned Canadian tax revolt.”

“Everyone hates the tax because everyone’s been screwed over,” Poilievre is heard saying in the video, which shows protesters with “Axe the tax” and “F–k Trudeau” signs and flags. A car with Make Canada Great Again scrawled on the rear window is seen parked at the site.

“People believed his lies. Everything he said was bullshit, from top to bottom.”

In another video from his visit, Poilievre, who has been beating Trudeau’s Liberals in the polls since last summer, is seen leaving a RV with a drawing of the black and white Diagolon flag on the door.

According to RCMP documents tabled at the Emergencies Act inquiry last year, the national police force believes Diagolon is a militia-like network whose supporters subscribe to an “accelerationist” ideology — the idea that a civil war or the collapse of western governments is inevitable and ought to be sped up.

The group’s founder disputes that characterization and argues it’s a fictitious meme.

In that video, a man asks Poilievre for a photo and suggests they pose in front of the infamous expletive flag about Trudeau. Poilievre can be heard suggesting they pose somewhere else.

Trudeau says Poilievre will do ‘anything to win’

Poilievre’s visit with the protesters has caused a stir among his political opponents.

“Every politician has to make choices about what kind of leader they want to be,” Trudeau said when asked about  Poilievre’s comments during a media availability Wednesday. 

“Are they the kind of leader that is going to exacerbate divisions, fears and polarization in our country, make personal attacks and welcome the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists? Because that’s exactly what Pierre Poilievre continues to do, not just when you see him engaging with members of Diagolon but also when he refuses to condemn and reject the endorsement of Alex Jones.”

Jones, a notorious broadcaster who has been ordered to pay more than a billion dollars in damages to the families of the Sandy Hook victims after claiming the school shooting was a hoax, has called Poilievre the “real deal” and recently reiterated his support.  In 2012, an armed man killed 26 people at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, most of them children between the ages of six and seven.

WATCH | Trudeau says Poilievre welcomes ‘support of conspiracy theorists and extremists’: 

Trudeau says Poilievre is welcoming ‘support of conspiracy theorists and extremists’

3 days ago

Duration 2:18

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of exacerbating ‘divisions, fears and polarization’ in Canada after a social media post showed Poilievre at the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border speaking with anti-carbon tax protesters. 

“This is the kind of man who’s saying Pierre Poilievre has the right ideas to bring the country towards the right,” said Trudeau  during a stop in the Toronto area, where he was touting his recent budget. Recent polling suggests last week’s budget release hasn’t done much to sway voters.

“So the fact that Pierre Poilievre hasn’t stood up to condemn that endorsement, the fact that he continues to encourage the kind of divisive approaches to Canada that I don’t think Canadians want to see, really shows that he will do anything to win.”

Poilievre’s team says they don’t follow Alex Jones 

In a statement issued to CBC News, Poilievre’s spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said “we do not follow” Jones “or listen to what he has to say.”

“Unlike Justin Trudeau, we’re not paying attention to what some American is saying,” said the statement.

Skamski did not respond to CBC’s question about whether Poilievre was aware of the Diagolon symbol.

Poilievre denounced the group as “dirtbags” after their founder threatened to sexually assault his wife during an online stream last year.

Skamski said Poilievre noticed an anti-carbon tax protest while driving between stops in Atlantic Canada.

“As a vocal opponent of Justin Trudeau’s punishing carbon tax which has driven up the cost of groceries, gas, and heating, he made a brief, impromptu stop,” he said.

“If Justin Trudeau is concerned about extremism, he should look at parades on Canadian streets openly celebrating Hamas’ slaughter of Jews on Oct. 7.” 

The comment appears to cite a recent pro-Palestinian rally on Parliament Hill. Ottawa police say they’re investigating allegations of hate speech after widely shared video showed a man on a megaphone praising Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians that killed more than 1,200, according to Israeli figures. More than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military campaign since then, health officials in the territory say.

Both Trudeau and Poilievre have condemned the protesters’ rhetoric.

In a separate news conference, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh accused Poilievre of deliberately dividing Canadians.

WATCH | Poilievre ‘purposefully trying to divide Canadians,’ Singh says:

Poilievre ‘purposefully trying to divide Canadians,’ Singh says

3 days ago

Duration 1:09

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of being ‘irresponsible with language.’ When asked about Poilievre’s stop at an anti-carbon tax protest in Atlantic Canada, Singh said Poilievre ‘will do anything it takes to divide Canadians.’

“A leader shouldn’t be someone that is irresponsible with language, that stokes division, that stokes hatred,” he said.

“He is someone that’s been endorsed by the likes of Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson. This is a divisive person who is giving life to and giving breath to folks to continue his irresponsible approach, to his divisive approach.”

Poilievre’s visit ‘risky,’ says pollster

David Coletto, founder and CEO of polling firm Abacus Data, said part of Poilievre’s strategy in visiting the protest encampment might have been to motivate members of his base who are drawn by Maxime Bernier’s populist People’s Party of Canada — which took four per cent of the vote in the last election.

“But I think it’s a real risky play because I think this is a protest that seemingly is masquerading as a policy critique but really is extremism,” he said.

“And that’s always the Achilles heel for Conservatives in Canada.”

Coletto said Poilievre is riding high in the polls thanks to people who are upset with the prime minister and want change. He added that coalition “is quite fragile.”

“This might be a signal that the Conservatives might be getting over-confident that pollsters like me telling them repeatedly that they’ve got a 20 point lead nationally means he can go and do things that might otherwise, if it became widespread, turn some of his new supporters off,” he said.

“I think he’s risking fracturing that new coalition.”

WATCH | Poilievre claims to make unplanned pit stop: 

Poilievre visits anti-carbon tax convoy, calls Trudeau’s policy ‘lies’

2 days ago

Duration 2:13

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stopped at an anti-carbon tax convoy site near the Nova Scotia/New Brunswick border where he accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of ‘lying about everything.’ Trudeau fired back by saying Poilievre courts conspiracy theorists and extremists and called on him to reject a recent endorsement by Alex Jones.

Trudeau’s comments on Wednesday follow new Liberal attack ads linking Poilievre to Jones.

Coletto said so far there’s no evidence they’re making Canadians less confident in the Conservative leader.

“But that doesn’t mean over time, does the accumulation of all of these evidence points lead to someone maybe saying, ‘I’m uncomfortable with him being the prime minister of Canada?” he said.

“So I think it all depends on how often this might happen and, more importantly, how many people are aware of it.”

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Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is “still so much love” between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.

In an interview on CTV’s Your Morning with host Anne-Marie Mediwake, Gregoire Trudeau was asked about her relaunch into public life outside of politics at age 49, and how she came to the understanding that she wanted her life to look different.

She said the decision to separate while still so centrally in the public eye took “a big load of bravery… to choose authenticity over attachment.”

“It’s not a moment, it’s a growth, it’s an evolution. I have three kids, I’ve been on a co-political path for more than a decade. I’ve experienced incredible things. But, at the same time, I have to make sure – especially in a relationship – like, there’s still so much love between us, and tenderness, and respect,” she said Friday.

“But, we’re taught in a society where marriage is success and divorce is failure, that there’s nothing in between. But life is in between.”

In August 2023, the prime minister and Gregoire Trudeau announced they were separating after 18 years of marriage. In a brief joint statement at the time, they said the decision was reached after “many meaningful and difficult conversations.” 

Alongside this international headline-grabbing decision, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the pair had “signed a legal separation agreement,” and that Gregoire Trudeau would no longer be considered the prime minister’s spouse in any official capacity.

While living apart, the Trudeaus have since been co-parenting their three children Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien, and have vacationed together. In the interview, part of a press tour promoting her new book “Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other,” she seemed to characterize their decision as choosing to restructure, rather than end their relationship.

“I think that if we do that mature work and effort – it’s not easy, because it takes two to tango – that the kids, you know, they feed off that energy and it’s so constructive and beautiful, because love remains.”

Her book has been billed as an “inspirational self-discovery and wellness book for adults” and explores topics such as self-acceptance, attachment styles, parenting, eating disorders, social media, movement and mental health, with input from experts and prominent Canadians.

Finished and sent in before the separation was announced, the book doesn’t divulge details about their decision, but it does touch on Gregoire Trudeau’s personal experience in that relationship, as a parent, and her family’s exposure to online hate and serious threats, as well as some humorous family memories involving pranks.

As a political power couple for 20 years, the pair had a high public and international profile predating Trudeau’s time in elected office. Once Trudeau ran for, and became, prime minister, Gregoire Trudeau played a prominent role at his side at campaign and world events.

In the interview, the former Quebec TV personality and certified yoga instructor who has used her platform to speak about her experience with eating disorders and female empowerment was asked what advice she’d offer the next woman to step into the role as Canada’s unofficial but de-facto “first lady.”

In response, she said that while she doesn’t think she’s “the wise woman to give the advice,” she has come away with a deep level of empathy and compassion for people who raise kids while serving their country in some way.

“It demands a lot of sacrifices on family life, a lot of sacrifices on personal life, but especially it creates also chronic stress in people, with the polarizing world, with the constant bullying, the constant criticizing,” she said.

“And so you’ve got to be strong. But keep yourself in your authenticity and be truthful. Speak your truth, and hold on to that hat because the winds are strong, my friend.”

Gregoire Trudeau spoke more about how she’s seen ministers and members of Parliament impacted by “incredibly toxic and dangerous… hate speech,” in a separate interview on CTV’s The Social that aired Thursday. 

Her assessment of those who hurl these types of attacks is that they are coming from a place of insecurity.

In both CTV appearances, Gregoire Trudeau discussed how she’s worked to separate the public’s perception from the personal, and the choice she’s made to make peace with what she can’t control.

“For me, relationships are a source of nourishment and I have done the work… of facing my trauma, facing my truth, wanting to become the best version of me that I can. Not perfect, messy at times, chaotic times, and it’s OK. But at least I get to dive deeper into who I am, why I have the personality that I do, and this is what I share in the book,” she said.

Asked whether she feels more free now, Gregoire Trudeau said she’s realized that freedom “is a space within you.”

“Closer Together” is one of two books she has been working on. The second is a children’s picture book that is said to “draw on Sophie’s own love for nature and her advocacy work in mental health and emotional literacy,” and is set to be published by Penguin Random House in 2025.

Since their split, the prime minister has seldom been asked about his personal life, though a few weeks after the breakup was announced, he said he was grateful for the kind messages he’d received from Canadians and was focused on moving forward. CTV News has asked PMO if the prime minister has read the book.

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