Premier Smith pens letter to PM Trudeau calling on Ottawa to scrap the carbon tax

Alberta's premier is adding her name to the list of premiers who have written to Justin Trudeau this week, calling on the prime minister to pause or remove the carbon tax.

Premier Smith pens letter to PM Trudeau calling on Ottawa to scrap the carbon tax
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Danielle Smith is adding her name to the list of Canada's premiers formally writing to Justin Trudeau, calling on the prime minister to scrap the federal carbon tax.

This week, provincial leaders from across the country have been calling on the prime minister to freeze the upcoming April 1 rise — or even to remove the tax altogether.

“Canadians have been burdened with many difficult decisions,” Smith's letter says. “Filling their gas tanks, paying their bills and buying groceries have created worry amongst families. That's why I'm asking you to take action to help Albertans and Canadians.”

The Trudeau government has been facing increasing resistance to the costly carbon tax, with Liberal Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey calling for a pause to the hike earlier this week.

“After years of increasing living costs, there is a need to fully grasp and address the magnitude inflation's effects on citizens, particularly those most in need,” Furey's letter to the prime minister said.

Atlantic MPs within Trudeau's own government, like Ken McDonald, have also raised concern. “Everywhere I go people come up to me and say, ‘we’re losing faith in the Liberal Party,'” he said earlier this year.

The most resistance, however, has come from Saskatchewan, where Premier Scott Moe has refused to continue collecting the tax. Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson accused the pushback as being akin to “anarchy.”

Premier Smith met with the prime minister during his trip to Alberta on Thursday, where she called on Trudeau to fire former Greenpeace activist, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

Trudeau rejected the request.

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