Trudeau touts troubled carbon tax to global public, says he’s facing misinformation – National
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defends his controversial carbon pricing agenda on the global stage and argues that misinformation threatens environmental progress.
Trudeau arrived in Brazil today for the G20 leaders’ summit and spoke at a conference organized by the anti-poverty group Global Citizen.
He touted Canada’s consumer carbon tax, arguing that it is among the strongest in the world but “an easy political target” in Canada.
Trudeau acknowledged misgivings about the policy, but said it was fueled by what he called propaganda and misinformation that affordability contrasts with fighting climate change.
He said his Liberal party had already won three elections on the issue of carbon pricing, and he said the policy was “very much in question” for the next election.
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Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to reverse this policy, in favor of a “carbon tax election” to lower the cost of living.
Trudeau made the comments during a panel themed on Canada’s hosting of next year’s G7 summit, although Trudeau did not speak about the impending initiative.
Ahead of the event, his office said remarks would focus on “the economic case for climate action as well as Canada’s climate finance and international aid policies” for the G7 presidency.
Trudeau’s remarks were almost entirely about defending the carbon tax, saying it had been the subject of “propaganda, misinformation, disinformation and outright lies.”
The federal NDP and some of its provincial counterparts have distanced themselves from the policies they previously supported.
Ottawa is sending rebates to offset what people pay in carbon pricing when they buy fuel, so they don’t get any less worse off. People who take steps to reduce their fuel consumption fare even better, because they still get the same rebate but pay less in carbon pricing.
The tax applies in provinces and territories that do not have carbon pricing systems that Ottawa deems consistent with its federal objectives.
Parliamentary Budget Officer says vast majority of households receive more rebates than they pay for carbon pricing, but for most those gains are erased once broader economic factors are taken into account .
Trudeau disputed this analysis, including in his remarks on Sunday.
“It’s actually become a way to help with affordability and put more money in the pockets of people who are struggling,” he said.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
