His way or the highway.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all but said as much on Wednesday after he sent a letter to all seven premiers opposing the carbon tax telling them to come up with a better idea for reducing emissions if they don’t like his.“When we last engaged with provinces and territories on this in 2022, all of your governments either did not propose alternative systems or proposed systems that did not meet the minimum standard for emissions reductions,” Trudeau wrote.“However, we continue to remain open to proposals for credible systems that price pollution that reflect the unique realities of your regions and meet the national benchmark.”.It comes after seven of 10 premiers — with the exception of BC, Quebec and Northwest Territories — urged Trudeau to at least pause the carbon tax hike at $65 per tonne instead of increasing it to $80 on April 1. The Liberals plan on increasing it in $15 increments every year until it reaches $170 in 2030.That in turn prompted Alberta’s Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe, along with the premiers of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to request an audience in front of the House of Commons standing committee on finance — to no avail.Instead Moe appeared before the budget estimates committee this morning, to be followed by Smith tomorrow.."I do appreciate the very warm Canadian Welcome," he said. "I wore my red tie in the spirit of collaboration," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.At the start of the meeting, Moe said he wore his red tie “in the spirit of collaboration.”Smith said she’d be offering more of the same when she testifies tomorrow.“I would just quote the Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who said that he didn't think the carbon tax was going to have an impact until 2016. So they've even acknowledged that their carbon tax is not working. So I've been asked by Kelly McCauley, operations and estimates chair, to present his committee which I'll be doing at 9am Thursday, and I will make all of these points and the point I made to the Prime Minister when I met him.”The concern among the premiers is the carbon tax is fuelling inflation at a time when Canadian households can least afford it. And it comes after the Liberal government exempted Atlantic Canadians from home heating oil, the dirtiest form of heating around.But Trudeau argued the costs of the tax are being offset in the form of ‘rebates’ that amount to about $1,800 for a family of four in Alberta and $1,600 in Saskatchewan. “There are several factors that affect inflation. It is critical to dispel the misconception that Canada’s carbon pricing system is a significant driver of inflation — because that is demonstrably false. According to the Bank of Canada, the carbon price is only responsible for about 0.1 percentage points of annual inflation,” Trudeau wrote.He ended the letter with: “Please accept my warm wishes.”
