۴ý

Canada

Premiers say Ottawa must ensure carbon pricing measures are fair to all Canadians

Share
HALIFAX -

Canada's premiers presented a rare unified front Monday as they took turns saying Ottawa's recent changes to its carbon pricing measures were unfairly applied across the country.

They released a statement after a meeting in Halifax, calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure federal policies, such as carbon pricing, are delivered in an equitable way, "particularly in light of the affordability challenges being faced across the country."

Though Quebec Premier Francois Legault did not attend the meeting, he was represented by the province's minister responsible for Canadian relations, Jean-Francois Roberge.

Last week, Trudeau announced his government would pause for three years the carbon price on home heating oil to make it easier for users of that particularly expensive form of fuel to switch to electric heat pumps.

When Trudeau made the announcement, he said the measure would be welcomed in Atlantic Canada, where a disproportionately large number of homes and businesses use heating oil in the colder months. At the time, he was flanked by MPs from the region.

But the move immediately drew criticism from premiers in Western Canada, where most residents use natural gas to heat their homes and businesses.

On Monday, the premiers rallied around the idea that Ottawa's move treated Canadians differently at a time when the entire country is struggling with an affordability crisis.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said carbon pricing is "not a silver bullet when it comes to climate change," and he stressed that the pause for heating oil users should be extended to other fuels to make life more affordable for more Canadians.

"During this inflationary moment right now, people are suffering," said Kinew, whose NDP government was elected in Manitoba just over a month ago.

"The temperatures are getting colder ... We do think there should be similar consideration given to the people of Manitoba to get us through this period of economic pain."

In Ottawa, federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the federal government would "continue to apply programs in an equitable way across the country," but he said nothing about changing the carbon pricing program.

When asked about the premiers' statement, LeBlanc pivoted to talk about heat pumps.

"We are anxious to work with all provinces to enlarge the federal program to give access to families to heat pumps that will help them reduce their heating costs," he said. "As intergovernmental affairs minister, I am happy and ready to enlarge accessibility to all Canadians to this important program."

In Halifax, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the carbon pricing program was unfair to the 85 per cent of Saskatchewan residents who use natural gas. "They deserve to be treated fairly with respect to the carbon tax policy," he said. "The issue isn't the policy. The issue is how the policy is being applied."

Moe repeated his recent pledge to direct Saskatchewan's Crown-owned natural gas supplier to stop collecting the federal carbon tax in the new year.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said natural gas should be treated like a cleaner fuel, especially when compared with coal, wood and dung.

"We should be exporting more of our cleaner fuel to reduce global emissions and not punishing our customers here at home," she said. "It's not our customers' fault that the alternatives are not available to them."

Newfoundland and Labrador's Liberal premier, Andrew Furey, drew attention to his province's heavy reliance on heating oil, but he then added, "I'm very sensitive to the current Canadian dynamic and not inflaming a unity issue."

David Eby, British Columbia's NDP premier, said the discussion on Monday was "grounded in our shared concerns around affordability … and fairness."

Eby, however, made a point of highlighting the impact of climate change by drawing attention to the fact his province has spent $1 billion on fighting forest fires so far this year. Another $1 billion has been devoted to flood prevention. And he reminded the closing news conference that a "heat dome" had killed hundreds of people in the province in the summer of 2021, when temperatures soared over 40 C.

"It's just devastating in British Columbia, climate-change wise," he said. "For us, the (provincial) carbon tax has been an effective mechanism to reduce carbon pollution since 2017, and our emissions have gone down despite a dramatic increase in population."

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said the carbon pricing pause should be extended to all types of heating fuel and he repeated his opposition to carbon pricing in general.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston agreed. "There are much more effective ways to protect the planet," he said. "I think they should get rid of the carbon tax and move on to working with us on other initiatives."

Meanwhile, the premiers also called on Trudeau to convene an in-person first ministers meeting, something that hasn't happened since 2018 despite repeated requests from the provinces.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2023.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

Four people are dead and another is in hospital after a Tesla driving through downtown Toronto at a high rate of speed crashed into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar on Lake Shore Boulevard.

  • With the final results of the B.C. election still pending, speculation is rampant about what concessions the Greens might ask for to prop up a potential NDP minority – and it could be a common philosophy about health care that ultimately helps forge an alliance.

  • Crews removed approximately 50 tonnes of "fatbergs" from the sewer system in Richmond, B.C., earlier this month, according to Metro Vancouver.

  • The Canadian government's plan to reduce the number of immigrants entering the country could impact B.C.'s housing affordability.

  • U.S. authorities earlier this year knew the whereabouts of a former Canadian Olympian who is now on the run for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking ring and orchestrating murders in Ontario, according to Ontario court documents.

  • Four people are dead and another is in hospital after a Tesla driving through downtown Toronto at a high rate of speed crashed into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar on Lake Shore Boulevard.

  • It's a dream for many Canadians, trying to save up enough money for a down payment on their very first home. That was also the dream for the Esmeralda family, a family of five with two dogs who currently live in a Scarborough apartment building.

  • Alberta's government and meat producers worry a bill about preventing and preparing for future pandemics could be harmful to the agriculture industry.

  • A Calgary business owner is frustrated and looking for answers after Google removed his business' profile without warning, resulting in a loss of bookings and damage to his company’s reputation.

  • The Carolina Hurricanes handed the Calgary Flames their first loss in regulation this season with Thursday's 4-2 victory at the Saddledome.

  • NEW THIS MORNING

    NEW THIS MORNING

    CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at things to do in Ottawa and eastern Ontario this weekend.

  • The Ottawa Police Service has identified the woman who was stabbed to death at Paul Landry Park on Uplands Drive Thursday morning.

  • A new organization that aims to help people struggling with addiction officially launched in Ottawa Thursday, named after the late Matthew Perry.

  • Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the city's Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension borough on Thursday.

  • October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and on Thursday the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation held a brunch in downtown Montreal featuring a special guest: Matthew Knowles.

  • A new tree-planting pilot project in Plateau-Mont-Royal is drawing criticism for eliminating parking spaces in a borough already facing limited parking, as well as for its cost.

  • Some Edmonton public school support staff walked off the job Thursday morning, after the province stepped in on Wednesday to prevent strike action.

  • The man who cut up the body of his grandson's mother is going to prison after the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned his previous sentence.

  • The City of Edmonton says staying proactive has helped keep its 90,000 elm trees relatively untouched by the devastating Dutch elm disease (DED).

  • The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

  • WorkSafeNB is investigating after a man was killed in a workplace incident at a tire shop in Moncton, N.B., last week.

  • The Nova Scotia Liberals are accusing former member Fred Tilley of accessing party files one day before he crossed the aisle to join the Progressive Conservatives.

  • The Manitoba man who brutally murdered his partner and two young children stood in court, voice wavering, and apologized for his actions that ended the lives of three people he said he loved very much.

  • A pair of councillors in the RM of Springfield plan on bringing forward a motion to opt out of Plan 20-50 when they are first able to.

  • A Winnipeg teenager has been charged with multiple offences after a stolen car crashed in St. Boniface Thursday morning.

  • After two days of advance polls, more than 119,000 people have already cast a ballot in-person for the 2024 Saskatchewan election.

  • A man is dead and two other people were injured in a two vehicle collision north of Regina on Wednesday evening.

  • Regina police says a reward of up to $50,000 is available for information that leads to the arrest of Daniel 'Juma' Drie Atem, who officers say is responsible for a murder that occurred downtown in the summer of 2023.

  • Fire crews responded to a house fire in St. Clements Thursday night.

  • Erick Buhr, the man on trial for second-degree murder in the death of his grandmother Viola Erb, took the stand Thursday to testify in his own defense.

  • One Ontario couple is taking a different approach to growing their family.

  • The Saskatchewan RCMP is calling off its dangerous persons alert after two people were arrested in the Tobin Lake area Thursday afternoon.

  • A former tire recycling company in Saskatoon is announcing additional layoffs months after a dispute with the provincial government.

  • Saskatoon police are investigating a series of suspicious fires that were lit in the Mayfair neighbourhood on Thursday morning.

  • The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

  • The Gathering Place board chair Peter Gregory is vowing to fight to keep the doors to the Cassells Street soup kitchen open after the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board denied their six-figure funding request.

  • Greater Sudbury Police have released a photo of a person they say escaped by driving their motor vehicle on a sidewalk past pedestrians and then the wrong way down a one-way street.

  • The London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) has released findings on their study looking into mood and anxiety disorders in young adults.

  • When she took the stand at a London courthouse on Thursday, 21-year-old Kaiah Edmonds testified that she arrived at the bush party off of Pack Road in a vehicle driven by one of the accused - Carlos Guerra Guerra.

  • Hundreds of students got a taste of the numerous jobs available in Ontario’s agriculture industry earlier this month in Listowel.

  • The cost of living is increasing, from groceries to gas, prices are consistently going up, and now there’s controversy surrounding paying for parking at hospitals.

  • A haunted house in the Ontario Town of Innisfil is causing a real scare for some people a week before Halloween.

  • Emergency crews were called to attend a fire that broke out in a grassy area in Barrie on Thursday morning.

  • Christ Church in Chatham is organizing the return of an honour guard vigil at the downtown cenotaph ahead of Remembrance Day next month.

  • A former Lakeshore man is facing a 10-year prison sentence after he was found guilty on drug charges.

  • Speeding along Walker Road is a concern for residents who live, work and drive through the major Windsor artery, but according to one city councillor, implementing traffic calming measures is not a feasible solution.

  • As the RCMP prepare to strap cameras to the chests of front-line police officers, an expert warns they might not work — at least, not in the way some had hoped.

  • Mounties on Vancouver Island are investigating after a set of popular driftwood sculptures was reportedly stolen last week.

  • Voting officials say recounts in two ridings that could determine the outcome of British Columbia's election won't start until Sunday afternoon — and it won't be until Monday before the makeup of the legislature is finalized.

  • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

  • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

  • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

  • The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass deserves a better shot at becoming a significant tourism hub than the UCP government is giving it, an NDP shadow minister said as the southeastern Alberta community gears up for a coal mining plebiscite.

  • A three-game road trip across the prairies got off on a sour note Wednesday night as the Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the Calgary Hitmen 4-2.

  • A town in southern Alberta will be one of the first to let golf carts be driven on select roads as part of a provincial pilot program.

  • A critical piece of the Sault’s homeless outreach strategy is almost ready to hit the road.

  • Police seized drugs, $70,000 and a large gold chain in a drug trafficking bust earlier this month in Thunder Bay.

  • An annual event held in Sault Ste. Marie is back for the 29th year to ensure local kids get the winter clothing they need as the temperature dips.

N.L.

Local Spotlight

A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

A meteor lit up our region's sky last night – with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

Politics

Health

Sci-Tech

Entertainment

  • A new organization that aims to help people struggling with addiction officially launched in Ottawa Thursday, named after the late Matthew Perry.

Business

Lifestyle

  • A Toronto man who only recently checked a Lotto 6/49 lottery ticket he bought back in June is now $2.5 million richer.

  • A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

Sports

Autos

Shopping Trends

The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at ۴ý. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.

Stay Connected
Follow ۴ý