OTAWA –
— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on Wednesday that the Canada Revenue Agency is “very, very good” at getting the money it is owed.
“Having a discussion with the CRA about not wanting to pay your taxes is not a position I would want anyone to be in,” he said at a news conference in Oakville, Ont.
“Good luck with that, Prime Minister Moe.”
Saskatchewan’s premier has vowed that his province will not send money it collects from the federal carbon price of natural gas to Ottawa, a move that violates federal law.
The jurisdictional dispute began when the Liberals created a temporary exemption to the carbon price for home heating oil.
The Saskatchewan government said that is unfair and politically motivated because the exemption has a huge impact on Atlantic Canada, where oil is the main source of fuel for home heating.
The Moe government has called for a similar exemption for natural gas, the main fuel for home heating in Saskatchewan.
He has also been an outspoken opponent of the carbon tax more generally and is among the majority of prime ministers who have written to Trudeau requesting a meeting to discuss alternatives to carbon pricing.
Trudeau has rejected calls for such a meeting and challenged premiers to come up with their own climate plans if they don’t like the federal carbon price, pointing to British Columbia and Quebec as examples of provinces with their own system.
The premier confirmed Tuesday that his government will continue to send carbon rebate checks to Saskatchewan people.
On Wednesday, he reiterated that most people in jurisdictions that use federal carbon pricing get more rebates than they pay each year.
“The CRA is an independent organization that is very, very good at getting the money owed to it by Canadians, businesses and now the provinces, if necessary,” he said.
“We don’t have to do anything as a federal government.”
He also criticized Moe for his “ideological opposition to fighting climate change” and accused federal conservatives of delaying a bill that would increase the rural carbon rebate complement for ideological reasons.
But the growing criticism of carbon pricing in recent months hasn’t just come from conservative politicians.
The country’s only Liberal premier, Andrew Furey of Newfoundland and Labrador, is among those calling for change.
And NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh accuses the prime minister of taking a divisive approach to climate change.
“We need a plan that is fairer for workers,” Singh said Wednesday outside the Alberta legislature in Edmonton.
“When workers see billions of dollars in subsidies going to big polluters, and no money available for ordinary Canadians to get a heat pump, it feels unfair.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2024.