Pallister 'can only speculate' what federal carbon tax announcement contains

After news broke that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would announce on Tuesday how the federal government plans to impose a carbon tax on provinces that do not have their own, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said "he can only speculate" what that announcement might contain.

"Our concern here is that the federal government is not properly positioned in terms of environmental strategies, in any province, and that provincial governments should have that ability," Pallister said.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pallister repeated his argument that Ottawa's plan does not properly take into account Manitoba's investments in clean energy, which the provincial government used to justify a flat carbon tax of $25 per tonne, rather than the federal plan which starts at $10 per tonne and rises each year to $50 by 2022.

Pallister surprised many when he announced earlier this month that he was abandoning the carbon tax portion of his government's climate plan.

On Monday, he said even if it had staved off a court battle between the province and federal government for one year, it would not have succeeded for any longer.

"So we're fighting it now by saying no to the carbon tax," he said. "I wish that we did not have to resort to the court option, and I am not 100 per cent sure we will have to at this point in time, but I do say this: we are going to say yes to green."

Manitoba's plan still aims to reduce emissions by a megatonne through a number of smaller measures, including diverting organics from landfills, retrofitting heavy-duty diesel trucks, and an electric bus program for Winnipeg.

A senior federal government source told CBC News that a national carbon price would be imposed on Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick. Prince Edward Island is expected to see a "blended" program, with the federal backstop imposed on large emitters.

Other provincial programs were assessed by Ottawa and were found to be adequate, said a source, speaking to the CBC's David Cochrane.

Minister of International Trade Diversification Jim Carr will be in Winnipeg on Tuesday to help announce Ottawa's plan to impose the carbon tax.

With files from John Paul Tasker, Catherine Cullen and The Canadian Press