Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre went back and forth over the carbon tax issue on Tuesday, culminating in the PM denouncing Poilievre for not condemning an endorsement he received from Infowars host Alex Jones.

Poilievre has been asking the Prime Minister for weeks if he will sit down with the Premiers of Canada and discuss the carbon tax with them, as six of them have requested. Nova Scotia’s Premier, Tim Houston, was the latest to do so on Tuesday, asking Trudeau “to eliminate the carbon tax in an effort to make life more affordable for all Canadians.”

“We had a meeting in 2016,” Trudeau told Poilevre, sending the Conservatives into laughter. The meetings Trudeau is talking about took place in 2016 before any of the current Premiers had been elected to their positions.

When pressed a second time to have a carbon tax conference live streamed for Canadians to see, the PM evaded the question, and instead associated the Opposition Party leader with Infowars host Alex Jones, who recently posted on X that Poilievre is the “real deal.” 

“Any responsible leader that receives an endorsement and support from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he would immediately denounce that,” Trudeau said. 

“He did absolutely nothing because those kinds of endorsements fit within his political strategy.” 

Last week, Trudeau became visibly angry at a reporter and refused to answer whether he’d meet with Premiers to discuss the carbon tax.

Same report, different story

The Liberals insist that 8 out of 10 Canadians are financially better off with the carbon tax thanks to rebates it offers to certain families, while the Conservatives maintain that the tax hurts 60% of families more, as per the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report.

Last week, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner’s office issued a strong statement in support of Premier Smith’s claim that the carbon tax is costing more Canadians than the rebates are helping them, despite the federal Liberals’ attempts to cherry-pick the report.

“The Parliamentary Budget Office said that Canadians will pay more in carbon taxes than they will receive in rebates, and that is not in dispute,” said Justin Brattinga, Senior Press Secretary from the Ministry of Treasury Board and Finance.

“To directly quote the PBO: ‘When both fiscal and economic impacts of the federal fuel charge are considered, we estimate that most households will see a net loss. Based on our analysis, most households will pay more in fuel charges and GST—as well as receiving slightly lower incomes—than they will receive in Climate Action Incentive payments,’ he added.

Brattinga also mentioned that, despite how high the tax already is, the Liberal-NDP coalition is planning to double it between now and 2030.

“And that will punish Canadians,” he said.