The House Finance Committee didn’t want to hear from the premiers on the upcoming hike to the carbon tax, so the operations and estimates committee will hear from Premiers Scott Moe and Danielle Smith instead.Moe kicked off the proceedings Wednesday morning, to be followed by Smith on Thursday.And Moe proved the prairie premiers are more than two lines deep after he deftly stick-handled his way through a panel of stacked actors on the carbon tax hike that takes effect on April 1.Moe made the case that the upcoming carbon tax increase will do little to cut emissions, will cause an undue burden on all Canadians while providing an uncertain investment climate..“Listen, the economy that we have in Canada is not new. It may morph and move over time, but it's our Canadian economy. It's not a new economy and we need to do everything we can to attract investment into it.” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.In response to a zinger from Liberal Jenica Atwin, who is also Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services: “So, you support Canada’s commitment to the Paris agreement, then?”Moe: “Certainly, in particular, Article Six of which we would like to see some activity in Article Six. And…”She cuts him off.“And you took part in COP (28) discussion. So do you support the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?Moe: “We supported the work that was done with respect to tripling the nuclear footprint Canada signing on to that agreement. We think that will go a long ways in reducing global emissions. We did not support the methane 75 announcement that came out of cop 28 by our Federal Minister of Environment, and those are about the only two discussions that we had.”Atwin tries again: “So you don't attribute any of the investments in their renewable energy sector or the new green economy to some of these policies from the federal government?”Moe: “Listen, the economy that we have in Canada is not new. It may morph and move over time, but it's our Canadian economy. It's not a new economy and we need to do everything we can to attract investment into it. And that carbon tax policy that was promised to be capped out at $50, not 170. And who knows where now, a combined with a number of other policies are creating uncertainty for the investment environment and I would say uncertainty that some national leaders are trying to navigate through as best they can.”.Again: “What kind of windfall with the oil and gas industry experience at the carbon levy was cancelled?”Moe: “A windfall what you would see as a return to a significant investment into some of the cleanest oil and gas that is produced on Earth and I think that would be a good thing for the globe.”
