Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are set to meet in Calgary on Wednesday as opposition grows from provincial leaders to a planned carbon price increase.
The federal backstop is set to increase from $65 to $80 per ton on April 1. This means the fuel charge on gasoline will rise from 14.3 cents to 17.6 cents per litre.
On Tuesday, Liberal Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey wrote a letter to Trudeau and posted it on X, calling for a pause in the planned carbon price increase.
Furey expressed concern that the April 1 increase is causing worry as people consider how to manage the financial strain.
This letter was reposted on X by Smith, along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.
Later that day, Progressive Conservative Premier Tim Houston posted his own letter to Trudeau on X, stating that the increase should be cancelled.
Houston wrote that while the government has a role in addressing climate change and reducing emissions, the increase only means “more money out of (Nova Scotian’s) pockets to pay an unnecessary carbon tax.”
Both premiers said the increase means higher prices to ship goods to and across their respective provinces.
In an emailed statement, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s communications advisor Jesse Bartsoff said the carbon price contributes “as much as one-third” to Canada’s emission reduction targets for 2030.
“This is the most cost-effective way to protect our communities—from Atlantic hurricanes and flooding to wildfires across the country—and make life more affordable with the Canada Carbon Rebate,” Bartsoff wrote.
This is the latest chapter in the growing provincial pushback on the carbon price.
At the beginning of this year, Saskatchewan stopped collecting and paying the carbon price on home heating in response to Ottawa’s three-year pause on the charge for home heating oil.
Last week while in Montreal, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault called the move “immoral” suggesting it’s one thing to debate policy but another to break a federal law.
The federal government has indicated this may reduce the amount Saskatchewan families receive in carbon rebates since they cannot pay back money that isn’t collected.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been heavily naming the carbon price as a core contributor to the current cost-of-living crisis and has promised to eliminate the pricing plan if his party forms the next government.
