B.C. will end its consumer carbon price now that new Prime Minister Mark Carney has removed the federal requirement for provinces.
Speaking at a press conference following a town hall in Surrey on Friday afternoon, B.C. Premier David Eby said that the provincial carbon price will be removed once his government passes legislation.
“Our commitment was once the federal government removed the backstop that required us to have it, we would get rid of it, too,” Eby said. “And that work is, well underway.
“With the low Canadian dollar, people have less money to go around. This will support them with that. But also, I want to reassure people, that we’ll be making sure that the big polluters continue to pay, not because, we want them to have to be taxed, but, instead encourage them to adopt the technologies that reduce emissions to ensure we’re continuing to make progress on the fight against climate change.”
Taking questions, Eby also wasted no time making his feelings known about U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We like Americans, we think they’re great,” Eby said. “They just have a lousy president.”
Friday’s Surrey town hall was billed as an event to engage with the public about the continued threat of U.S. tariffs.
Get daily National news
Earlier this week, Eby’s government introduced legislation that would tax trucks and vehicles using B.C.s infrastructure to travel to Alaska.
In response, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan spoke on a radio show saying he would lobby to have cruise ships bypass B.C. ports on their way to other destinations.
“We need Alaskans to send a message to Donald Trump about how intertwined we are,” Eby said.
“About the connections between our economies. We built the Alaska Highway together. And I hope very much that the Republican senators in Alaska are sending that message to the president because you can see very quickly how destructive a trade war is.”
Eby added that they want help from Alaskans to let Trump know he is destroying consumer confidence and the priority needs to be on increasing prosperity and reducing costs.
On Thursday, Eby shared details on legislation that provides new tools for the province’s ongoing tariff response, including removing interprovincial trade barriers.
“We see this as emergency legislation,” Eby said.
“It’s not everyday legislation, it’s not routine legislation. This is an emergency situation where we need legislative authority.
“We need government authority to do something quickly to minimize damage to the economy, to people, and an unpredictable action from an unpredictable president.”
- Read the full transcript of Carney’s speech to World Economic Forum
- Ontario-based GFL jobs safe, Ford says, as company moves executive HQ stateside
- ‘Nobody should be above the law’: Former justice ministers criticize UCP for ‘unacceptable’ conduct
- NATO faces ‘test’ on Arctic security, Carney and Rutte say in Davos meeting
Comments