Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized former New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs’ provincial carbon tax while touting the same tax imposed by his federal government. Trudeau went to New Brunswick on Tuesday to meet privately with the new Liberal premier, Susan Holt. After their closed-door meeting, Trudeau and Holt held a press conference where they touched on the many projects they intend to undertake together on Canadian taxpayers’ dime. “I’m not just happy because it’s great to be working with a fellow progressive and Liberal, I’m also happy because there’s so much that we’re going to be able to do together,” said Trudeau. He boasted of the “many” initiatives where the Trudeau Liberals promise to “be there, with investments ready to flow to New Brunswickers.” Initiatives Trudeau claimed the previous government under Conservative Stephen Harper “just didn’t want to” hand over money for, including dental, healthcare, pharmacare and housing. A reporter pointed out one issue the two didn’t previously agree on was the federal carbon tax, which Holt had earlier rejected, and asked Holt if “now thinks New Brunswickers can afford another hit by another increase in the carbon tax.” “As I said, one of the things we agree on is that you can't build a strong economy unless you're protecting the environment,” Trudeau said, leaping to answer the question ahead of Holt. “That's something that the premier was very, very clear on.”He went on to regurgitate his debunked claim his federal carbon tax “puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians across the country.”Holt confirmed her constituents “continue to struggle with the rising cost of living,” and that she plans to scrap Higgs’ 4% gas tax. “We're going to be removing the Higgs gas tax … as soon as we can return to the legislature,” said Holt. “We're really conscious of the price that new Brunswickers are paying, and we want to make sure that it's an appropriate price that reflects the reality here.”“We're going to put forward a made-in-New Brunswick climate plan that recognizes the realities here in New Brunswick, what New Brunswickers can do, how we incentivize them to change behavior and not just visualize them when they don't have any other options”“We look forward to getting that plan ready, and I appreciate the Prime Minister is prepared to receive it, and as he has with other provinces, let provinces do their own thing, as long as they need an appropriate stringency level.”“It's interesting, actually,” interjected Trudeau a second time. “The province of New Brunswick had a made-in-New Brunswick plan, and then Premier Higgs decided to scrap it because he wanted to blame the federal government for what he was doing.”“It was a purely, crassly, political play.”“It's great to have someone who deeply believes in not just protecting the environment but helping with affordability in tangible, concrete ways.”
