Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey’s call to delay the federal carbon tax is a sign he is caving to political pressure.
“I think Mr. Furey is continuing to bow to political pressure,” Trudeau said in response to a question about the premier’s stance during an event in Montreal on Friday morning. “I think Canadians in Newfoundland and Labrador and right across the country expect their governments to do the right thing.”
Trudeau said that means fighting climate change and spurring technological innovation. He said the carbon tax rebate is financially beneficial for roughly eight in 10 Canadians.
“It’s basic math,” he said.
Trudeau’s remarks on Friday mark another scuffle in the war of words between the two Liberal compatriots, which began when Furey shared an open letter on Tuesday calling for the planned carbon tax increase on April 1 to be delayed. Furey is the only remaining Liberal provincial premier.
Trudeau responds to N.L. premier’s carbon tax concerns
In Quebec on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the federal carbon tax after Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, a Liberal, joined other premiers in asking for a scheduled increase next month to be scrapped. Trudeau said Furey continues to ‘bow to political pressure’ and that the carbon rebate puts more money in the pockets of Canadians.
The federal carbon tax is scheduled to rise from $65 per tonne to $80 on April 1, a roughly 25 per cent increase.
In a statement sent to CBC News on Friday, Furey’s office said Newfoundland residents lack some of the options available to people in other parts of the country to reduce their carbon tax burden, adding to affordability woes.
“Premier Furey has always been clear that the federal carbon tax is not the appropriate instrument to mitigate climate change at this time, and that he will continue to fight for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,” the statement said.
“Premier Furey strongly believes in the importance of mitigating climate change, but urges the federal government to pause its increase to the carbon tax at this time.”
Trudeau has faced pressure from provinces and territories — all of which use at least part of the federal carbon tax system, except for British Columbia, Quebec and the Northwest Territories — to delay the planned increase.
Premiers in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia have all called for Trudeau to pause or cancel the coming carbon tax increase.
Saskatchewan has gone further than other provinces, saying it won’t remit the carbon tax levied on natural gas to the federal government. It’s protesting an exemption that Ottawa carved out for home heating oil, arguing that natural gas should receive the same treatment.
Yukon’s Liberal Premier Ranj Pillai said Wednesday he strongly supports the carbon tax and the April 1 increase.
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In French, Trudeau said he understood that some premiers across the country were opposed from the start to the idea of the carbon tax, but he said he believes the carbon tax allows the market to incentivize investment in lower-emitting technologies while rewarding Canadians who change their behaviour.
“Taking away the price on pollution, or levelling it off where it is, would actually mean less money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians in the jurisdictions where it’s imposed, which doesn’t make sense,” the prime minister said on Wednesday.
The carbon tax has been perhaps the most prominent focus of the Conservative critique of the sitting government, with Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre regularly calling for the policy to be scrapped during “Axe the Tax” rallies across the country.
“Trudeau is facing a provincial revolt,” Poilievre said in a statement on Wednesday. “But Trudeau isn’t listening.”
Poilievre held an anti-carbon tax event in Saint John, New Brunswick on Friday, where he highlighted two upcoming opposition day motions meant to force a vote on the tax and the April 1 increase.
“Liberal and NDP members of Parliament will have to decide whether they vote for their constituents’ affordable gas, food and homes, or whether they will vote with Justin Trudeau to dig deeper into the pockets of Canadians who are freezing and starving,” he said.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
