Trudeau says Singh, NDP 'caved' to political pressure in fight against climate change
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been noncommittal on consumer carbon tax
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed the NDP and its leader Jagmeet Singh on Friday, saying that while they may care about the environment, they have "no idea what to do in the fight against climate change."
At a news conference in the Montreal suburb of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., Trudeau accused the NDP of "playing simple politics" and "walking away from progressive values" after it ended its confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals last week.
"Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are caving to the political pressures from Pierre Poilievre and from the Conservatives," Trudeau told reporters in response to a question about the upcoming byelection in the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. "That's just not on, and that's not what Montrealers expect or deserve."
The prime minister's comments come as support for the carbon tax among progressive political leaders appears to be waning.
On Thursday, Singh refused to explain his current position on consumer carbon pricing and suggested that both the Liberals' and the Conservatives' approach to fighting the climate crisis has "put the burden on the backs of working people."
"We've been working on a plan, and we'll be releasing our plan, our vision for how we can do that in a stronger way, in the coming months," Singh said Thursday.
B.C. Premier David Eby said at a campaign event later that day in Vancouver that if Ottawa drops its legal requirement for consumer carbon pricing, his NDP government would get rid of the carbon tax and focus instead on "big polluters."
"Two things will happen. One is we'll remove the carbon tax for everyday British Columbians, for the farmers, for the truckers, for the average British Columbian," Eby said.
"The second thing is we believe that climate change is a real and present threat," he added, vowing that his government would ensure "that the big polluters are paying their fair share."
In March, Eby dismissed an offer from Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to help stop a federal carbon price increase, calling it a "baloney factory" campaign tactic.
Poilievre has said he would end the carbon tax brought in by the Liberal government and blames it for driving up the cost of living. People in jurisdictions where the federal carbon price is in place receive rebates.
The Conservative leader has been unclear on whether he would cancel both the consumer carbon levy — which is charged to individuals and smaller businesses — and the separate system that applies to big industry.
In a media statement, the Green Party of Canada (GPC) said both the federal and B.C. NDP have "abandoned even their hypocrisy on climate change" and questioned why the federal NDP — a "so-called progressive party" — would turn its back on "a proven solution" like carbon pricing.
"It's a backward-looking policy move that is clearly an attempt to pull back votes the NDP is losing to the Conservatives," the statement says.
"It has been clear for years that Singh would not oppose pipelines for fear of offending Alberta New Democrats, nor oppose fracking to keep the B.C. greenhouse gas-boosting NDP on the side."
Progressives engaged in a 'race to the bottom': climate advocate
"Progressive politicians are engaging in a race to the bottom when it comes to climate policy," said Caroline Brouillette, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada.
"There's an unfortunate and very troubling lack of vision and policy creativity right now, as we are just emerging from a devastating summer of climate impacts.
"What we're not hearing about is what they are going to do more to help folks navigate the impact of rising oil and gas prices on their wallets, while at the same time reduce emissions to tackle the climate crisis."
Brouillette argued disinformation campaigns have left many people thinking climate policy is responsible for the inflation crisis, when the true culprit is the fossil fuel industry.
The current political debate on carbon pricing is "collectively distracting us from putting the blame where it should be," she added.
With files from David Thurton and the Canadian Press