Danielle Smith condemns Trudeau's carbon tax for worsening inflation, not reducing emissions

'We are doing an endless number of things to achieve our emissions targets and the Prime Minister's carbon tax is not working,' said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. 'His own environment minister has said that it's not working.'

  • By Alex Dhaliwal
  • March 27, 2024
  • News Analysis
Danielle Smith condemns Trudeau's carbon tax for worsening inflation, not reducing emissions
Remove Ads

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to hear concerns from premiers over the annual carbon tax hike expected for April 1st. 

Under no circumstances will the federal government pause the carbon tax despite ongoing concerns on inflation.

“They can develop their own approach here in B.C. Québec did the same,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We expect everyone to hit a level, the same level of ambition in the fight against climate change because that's fair.”

“Are you open to sitting down with the premiers to discuss their concerns about the carbon tax increase,” asked a reporter.

“Over the past number of years, I have sat down with every premier in the country to talk about everything we are doing to fight climate change and … put more money in the pockets of Canadians,” he replied.

“What is your response to that, given the federal government has yet to meet a single emissions target?” Rebel News asked Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. 

"We are doing an endless number of things to achieve our emissions targets and the Prime Minister's carbon tax is not working," said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. "His own environment minister has said that it's not working."

Smith earlier claimed the tax is "designed by the wealthy and well-connected" while not readily impacting their household finances.

"If you do the average, yeah, it's true, it's going to cost more money to people, but the people who are paying are the richest among us, which is exactly how the system was designed," admitted Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault last April.

According to budget officer Yves Giroux, the carbon tax said only the bottom 40% of income earners receive more refunds than they pay. Only the bottom 20% will receive net rebates next fiscal year.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister blamed Conservative premiers several times for “misleading” Canadians and for their failure to meet federal standards for reducing emissions.

“We have made it clear that we are open to working with any and all provinces and territories that want to establish their own pricing systems [as long as they meet or exceed the national benchmark],” reads a letter from the Prime Minister.

Smith told Rebel her government has developed and funded $1.7 billion worth of pilot projects for emissions reduction in Alberta. “I can tell you, we met our methane emissions reduction target, — met it early by 45% below the 2005 levels [without a provincial carbon tax],” she said.

Among other examples include investments from Dow Chemical for a net zero petrochemical plant, and Heidelberg Materials for a net zero cement plant. Smith also mentioned in passing that Alberta’s carbon capture utilization and storage capacity is second only to Russia with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. 

“We just announced the opening of the first privately operated hydrogen fueling station just outside of Edmonton in Leduc County as the backbone to start building out our hydrogen infrastructure,” she added.

“All of the things that I have mentioned … are going to get us to carbon neutrality.”

However, Trudeau maintains the premiers have not proposed ‘better ideas’ to fight ‘climate change.’

“Not only are we fighting climate change and reducing emissions, but we're putting more money back in the pockets of families, particularly in low- and middle-income families across the country,” he said.

“Eight out of 10 families across the country in federal backstop jurisdictions make more money with the Canada carbon rebate than it costs with the price on pollution,” claimed Trudeau in response to the carbon tax opposition.

“It's basic math that the parliamentary budget officer has confirmed time and time again.”

Trudeau also vowed to foster new technology and speed up approval processes for clean projects.

Seven premiers, including Smith, Premiers Scott Moe, and Doug Ford, and their Maritime allies earlier asked Trudeau to forgo a planned increase next Monday. It will increase by $15 a tonne to $80, adding roughly three cents to the cost of a litre of gasoline.

The leaders cite inflation and a high cost of living as reasons to pause the breaks on the punitive tax. 

Most have requested to testify on Wednesday before the Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Moe earlier appeared by video conference on Wednesday.

Trudeau’s letter attempted to dispel the “misconception” that Canada's carbon tax significantly adds to inflation, contending there are many factors at play.

“According to the Bank of Canada, the carbon price is only responsible for about 0.1 percentage points of annual inflation,” he wrote.

However, Tiff Macklem, governor to the Bank of Canada, confirmed last March that the federal carbon tax increased inflation by 0.4%.

Conservative MP Philip Lawrence asked how long a period ending the carbon tax would reduce inflation. Macklem said one year, with a one-time drop in inflation of 0.6%.

Alberta Justin Trudeau Canada Carbon Tax Stop the Carbon Tax News Analysis Alberta Legislature Danielle Smith
Remove Ads
Remove Ads
Email Sign Up: Alberta Legislature Reports

Never miss a story!

Get updates on our coverage of Alberta's Legislature straight to your inbox.

Sign Up

Don't Get Censored

Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.

Subscribe via RSS
Remove Ads

Don't Get Censored

Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.