Trudeau says conservative premiers are lying about carbon pricing

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused conservative politicians across Canada, including premiers, of lying to Canadians about the carbon price.

Trudeau's government is buckling as attacks mount against carbon pricing, and voters increasingly side with politicians who say the policy is making their lives less affordable.

Most premiers and the federal Conservatives want the Liberals to cancel Monday's scheduled increase of the carbon price by $15 per tonne, adding 3.3 cents to a litre of gasoline and 2.9 cents to a cubic metre of natural gas.

The carbon rebates sent to households every three months are also being adjusted in parallel to the carbon price itself.

Political leaders who criticize the policy are failing to acknowledge and inform Canadians about those rebates, which are meant to offset costs to consumers, Trudeau said. Households that lower their fuel use save money, but their rebate amounts are unaffected.

"Conservative premiers across this country are misleading Canadians, are not telling the truth," he said.

"Eight out of 10 families across the country in federal backstop jurisdictions make more money with the Canada Carbon Rebate than it costs with the price on pollution."

The "backstop" is the federal pricing system, which applies in every jurisdiction that does not have an equivalent pricing system of its own. Currently, British Columbia, Quebec and Northwest Territories do that, while all other provinces and territories use the federal consumer levy.

Trudeau also accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of blocking legislation that would double the rebate top-up for rural Canadians.

His comments at a press conference in Vancouver came the day after he wrote to critical premiers suggesting they haven't come up with a viable alternative — but is all ears if they do.

They also came as Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe was pressing his case against the carbon price to a House of Commons committee, the first of three premiers who will do so this week.

Moe said he believes in climate change and that emissions need to go down. But he said pricing pollution is not the way to do it.

"The goal is not for the big polluters to pay, the goal is for them to emit less," he said, bristling a little during an exchange with New Democrat MP Alexandre Boulerice.

"How is it we shouldn't make big polluters pay?" Boulerice demanded, accusing Moe of believing that "giant vacuum cleaners" will suck emissions out of the sky to solve climate change.