Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to axe the carbon tax and the federal fuel tax.
In a letter to Trudeau on Wednesday, Smith accused Trudeau’s “imprudent policies” of contributing to inflation.
“An immediate and simple step your government should take is to cancel the planned increases in the federal carbon tax,” she wrote.
“In point of fact elimination of the carbon tax entirely, along with temporarily pausing federal fuel taxes, would assist millions of Canadians to better cope with this inflation crisis.”
Meanwhile, Smith said the Alberta government has reduced its fuel tax and provided electricity and natural gas rebates to help citizens weather the cost of living crisis.
The federal carbon tax will continue to rise until it reaches $170 per tonne by 2030. That’s an increase of $130 per tonne from $40 in 2021 or a 325% hike.
The last increase was on April 1 by 25%, rising to $50 per tonne of emissions.
During the United Conservative Party leadership race, Smith said she would again challenge the federal government’s carbon tax even after the Supreme Court upheld it in March 2021.
“I’ve been talking to lawyers who have said that with new information you’re allowed to relitigate,” she told the Calgary Eyeopener in October.
“We have new information. We have a war in Ukraine. We have a world global increase in prices. We have global instability. We have an affordability crisis.”
Also on Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre denounced the runaway inflation and the rising cost of food, housing and fuel.
“It feels like everything is broken in this country right now,” Poilievre told reporters.
The Opposition leader placed the blame squarely on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government.
Last month, Conservative MPs were the only members in the House of Commons to vote for their motion to cancel the planned increase to the Trudeau Liberal’s federal carbon tax.
The Liberals, NDP and Bloc all voted in favour of the Trudeau Liberals’ plan to triple the carbon tax on Wednesday.
