The Conservative chair of a House of Commons committee has invited Canada’s prime ministers to testify about their concerns about the carbon tax.
On Tuesday, the prime ministers of New Brunswick, New Scotland, saskatchewan and alberta released letters they had sent to the House Finance Committee, asking to appear to discuss the upcoming carbon price increase on April 1.
According to the official opposition, the liberal president of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives refused to urgently convene that panel of deputies to respond to the requests of these provincial leaders to come and speak, before the tax increase comes into effect. next Monday.
The House of Commons is currently on a two-week election recess, but committees can still meet if there is enough interest.
In a sentenceConservative MP and chair of the Conservative-led Government Estimates and Operations Committee, Kelly McCauley, said he extended an invitation to these premiers to come discuss the matter, before the same committee that is currently examining the ArriveCan controversy. as well as the Main Estimates.
“Prime ministers should be welcomed before parliamentary committees and given the opportunity to testify, especially on matters of national importance,” McCauley said.
CTV News has reached out to the House Finance Committee and the member who heads it for comment.
The mandate of the Government Estimates and Operations Committee is to focus on the “effectiveness and proper functioning of government operations” as well as as federal spending plans.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said in an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play with Vassy Kapelos that he is scheduled to testify Wednesday afternoon, while a revised committee meeting notice indicates the New Brunswick premier Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe will appear virtually at 11 a.m. ET.
It remains to be seen when Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will appear before MPs.
He said that as he watches the “rise” of resistance to the federal pollution price and rebate plan, he thinks it’s important that he continue to use his voice to speak out against the program.
“I would like to see the carbon tax go away because I don’t think it’s the answer for us to improve our overall emissions and reduce them,” he said.
In a widely signed open letter published Tuesday, economists across the country attempted to counter the Conservative-led opposition’s arguments against the carbon tax, noting that “since the federal carbon price went into effect in 2019, the “Canada’s GHG emissions have fallen by almost 8 percent.” “.
Higgs said that figure is “such a small component for such a big pain.”
The economists also cited a Bank of Canada estimate that carbon pricing has caused less than one-twentieth of Canada’s inflation over the past two years.
The current price of $65 per ton of carbon will rise to $80 per ton on April 1, coinciding with an increase in the amount that will be refunded to households.
The impending increase has brought the issue to the political center stage in recent months, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre increasing the pressure his party is putting on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “reduce the tax.”
Recently defending his decision to maintain the pollution pricing policy and the upcoming increase, Trudeau criticized “political misinformation” around the Liberal climate change plan and suggested it is an easy fix for “thinking politicians to short term” request it. to end.
With files from CTV News Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos