Trudeau visit to Sask. sparks new round in carbon tax spat, attack ad
CBC
A visit from the prime minister to the province this week put federal policies and politics front and centre at the Saskatchewan legislature.
Justin Trudeau met the media in Saskatoon on Monday, and told reporters Saskatchewan people would continue to receive their full carbon rebates despite the Saskatchewan government's decision not to remit carbon tax on home heating.
Trudeau was also the subject of an attack ad against the provincial NDP by the Saskatchewan Party that was sent out as a robotext to Saskatchewan cellphone owners on Tuesday.
The video ad starts with the text "the NDP is Trudeau's choice for Saskatchewan." The ad uses photos from Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck's trip to Ottawa last week. It claims that Beck attended a meeting to plot a strategy to get Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh re-elected.
A composite image is shown of the three leaders sitting at a table with a blue backdrop. Each met individually with the Canadian Labour Congress but were not in the room together.
The CLC held a meeting last week to "to discuss how they will advance the rights of workers." The CLC news release is titled "labour reps discuss election strategy and union momentum."
Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party have taken that and turned it into a political talking point and ad.
In question period on Tuesday, Moe responded to an affordability question from Beck and said the federal carbon tax was an issue.
"Makes me wonder why that leader and members of that caucus answered the call to arms to attend the Trudeau campaign school to keep that individual in place that is going to continue to increase the affordability challenges that Saskatchewan and Canadian families are facing today, far into the future," Moe said.
When asked by reporters about the ad, Beck said, "I grew up on a farm, I know a little B.S. when I see it."
Beck said the ads are meant to "distract" from issues in health care, education and the economy.
"I'm proud of the meetings that we had," Beck said Monday. "We were in Ottawa talking about jobs, the economy."
Beck said she did not meet with Trudeau but did meet with federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. She said she expressed her opposition to the federal consumer carbon tax.
"The consumer carbon tax is simply not on for us. The carve-out around heating fuel was unfair."