Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner is calling on Ottawa to scrap the carbon tax in a bid to address affordability concerns and strengthen the Canadian economy.In a statement from Toronto where he was meeting with his federal and provincial counterparts, Horner on Friday said Canada needs to be “as competitive as possible” to attract foreign investment and stem a flood of dollars to places such as the US.Instead, he said it was clear from discussions that included Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Ottawa has no plan to address the concerns of average Canadians. Instead, Horner called for “immediate action” to address issues such as the rising cost of living..“The federal government insists that affordability remains a top priority, yet has failed to heed provincial calls to remove the carbon tax,” he said. “At our last meeting, Minister Freeland committed to all provincial and territorial finance ministers that we would have a conversation about the carbon tax, but she refused to put it on the agenda today. If Minister Freeland and others in her government were serious about keeping life affordable for Canadians, they would not penalize us according to where we live and which members of Parliament we elect.”Horner also took the opportunity to rail against federal climate policies that came to the fore at the COP28 summit in Dubai, including emissions and methane caps on oil and gas and beef cattle..“The federal government continues to advance policies and emissions targets that are unrealistic, unfair and in some cases, unconstitutional. The resulting impact on our economy is startling and we can no longer afford to wait to act,” he said.“The federal government must also recognize achieving net zero on the electricity grid by 2035 is simply not feasible. It will result in job losses and cripple the Canadian economy. All of these issues will require bold and immediate action to address and that’s what I’ll continue to call on the federal government to do.”
Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner is calling on Ottawa to scrap the carbon tax in a bid to address affordability concerns and strengthen the Canadian economy.In a statement from Toronto where he was meeting with his federal and provincial counterparts, Horner on Friday said Canada needs to be “as competitive as possible” to attract foreign investment and stem a flood of dollars to places such as the US.Instead, he said it was clear from discussions that included Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Ottawa has no plan to address the concerns of average Canadians. Instead, Horner called for “immediate action” to address issues such as the rising cost of living..“The federal government insists that affordability remains a top priority, yet has failed to heed provincial calls to remove the carbon tax,” he said. “At our last meeting, Minister Freeland committed to all provincial and territorial finance ministers that we would have a conversation about the carbon tax, but she refused to put it on the agenda today. If Minister Freeland and others in her government were serious about keeping life affordable for Canadians, they would not penalize us according to where we live and which members of Parliament we elect.”Horner also took the opportunity to rail against federal climate policies that came to the fore at the COP28 summit in Dubai, including emissions and methane caps on oil and gas and beef cattle..“The federal government continues to advance policies and emissions targets that are unrealistic, unfair and in some cases, unconstitutional. The resulting impact on our economy is startling and we can no longer afford to wait to act,” he said.“The federal government must also recognize achieving net zero on the electricity grid by 2035 is simply not feasible. It will result in job losses and cripple the Canadian economy. All of these issues will require bold and immediate action to address and that’s what I’ll continue to call on the federal government to do.”
