Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sympathizes with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, but he has changed his party’s position on climate change after Singh appeared to be wavering on his support for a consumer carbon tax. He said he no longer understood it.
“I feel sorry for the NDP and Jagmeet. These are difficult times. There are political headwinds,” Trudeau told reporters Friday at a news conference in Vaughan, Ont.
“There’s a lot of political pressure. I certainly feel it and I think everyone feels it. It’s from people who are concerned about affordability, people who are concerned about climate change. .”
Speaking at the Broadbent Institute’s annual policy conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Singh said his party will deliver climate change policies that don’t divide Canadians, saying Trudeau has used the climate crisis as a political wedge. He accused them of taking advantage of him.
“This cannot be achieved by forcing working families to bear the costs of climate change while large-scale polluters reap ever-increasing profits,” Singh said. “If we force Canadians to choose between affordable living and fighting the climate crisis, we all lose.”
After his speech, Singh told reporters he did not want the burden of fighting climate change to fall on working people, but he did not say whether that meant he wanted to eliminate the consumer carbon tax. Ta.
When asked about NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s apparent change in policy on the carbon tax, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said these are “difficult times” and that he is under political pressure over the policy. He admitted that he felt He also said he “couldn’t understand the NDP’s position in withdrawing at all.”
The premier suggested Friday morning that Conservative arguments for a consumer carbon tax “resonate with the NDP.”
“I don’t fully understand the NDP’s position to back away from both affordability policy and the fight against climate change, but I hope this government, my government, steps up the fight against climate change. I can assure you that we will continue to do so. We will continue to put more money into the pockets of families,” Trudeau said.
The premier is referring to carbon tax rebates when he claims the NDP is retreating from “affordability policies.” The Liberal government claims eight out of 10 households in jurisdictions subject to the federal carbon tax receive more in federal rebates than they pay under the tax.
Reacting to Singh’s comments, Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre said on social media Thursday that the NDP leader is “jumping around” on the carbon tax.
“Three weeks ago, Jagmeet Singh, along with his coalition partner Justin Trudeau, voted in favor of a steep carbon tax increase,” Poilievre wrote. “He’s trying desperately to get away from his record, but we won’t let him forget, and we won’t let him try to fool Canadians.”
The Liberal government weathered the carbon tax vote of no confidence in March with support from Quebec and the NDP.
In the past three elections, the NDP has run on a platform that includes a carbon price.
On April 1, the federal carbon price increased to $80 per ton. The increase means drivers will pay an additional 3.3 cents per liter at the pump.
