At least four Canadian premiers are requesting an audience with the House of Commons finance committee to urge the federal government to axe the carbon tax increase coming into effect Monday.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wrote a letter to the Standing Committee on Finance, requesting to testify in opposition to the upcoming tax hike Apr. 1.
“The federal government must take immediate action by cancelling this planned increase for the sake of all Albertans and all Canadians,” wrote Smith, who asked to testify virtually.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Smith in Calgary earlier this month. She told Trudeau that scrapping the upcoming increase would be a “political win” with the Liberals headed for a crushing defeat, according to recent polling.
Smith’s letter was dated Mar. 26, a day after New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs sent a letter requesting the same as Alberta’s premier.
“The upcoming planned 23% increase to the federal government’s carbon tax will have a disastrous impact on New Brunswickers, and all Canadians,” wrote Higgs.
New Brunswick’s premier also requested to appear virtually. He pleaded to make his case for “why the federal government must — at a minimum — cancel the planned increase.”
On the same day Smith made her request, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe also joined the call.
He requested to appear virtually no later than Mar. 28, “to make the case as to why the federal government must cancel the planned increase in the federal carbon tax, or better yet, eliminate the federal carbon tax entirely, on everything, for everyone.”
Only hours after Moe’s letter, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston joined the fray.
“The carbon tax increase will mean Nova Scotians are paying more at the pump, and more for the cost of all goods they buy. This is something Nova Scotia cannot afford,” wrote Houston.
While a formal response has yet to arrive, one of the committee’s members replied to Smith on X.
“I would be most glad to hear from Premier Smith on the carbon tax. Alberta pays more carbon tax than any other province, her perspective would be welcome at committee. I hope our chair will give her the opportunity to testify on this subject,” said Conservative MP Phillip Lawrence.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had called for protests outside of Liberal and NDP MPs’ offices to cancel the carbon tax earlier this month.
Protests are being planned across Canada on major highways and interprovincial borders for April 1. The Facebook group organizing the protest has over 151,000 members, with just under a week left until the planned countrywide protests.
Seven in ten Canadians are opposed to the upcoming carbon tax increase, mirroring the seven out of ten provincial premiers that have called for relief.
Canada’s finance critic, Jasraj Singh Hallan, said in a post to X that the Liberal Chair of the committee must allow the two premiers to testify about the upcoming increase. This was prior to the list of premiers requesting to testify quadrupling from the start of the day.
“The Liberal Finance Committee Chair has a choice, cover for Trudeau or call a meeting to hear the concerns of premiers Smith, Moe, Higgs, and Houston and the Canadians they represent,” wrote Hallan.
Poilievre introduced a non-confidence motion in response to Trudeau’s refusal to spike his upcoming carbon tax hike a week prior, but the motion ultimately failed. Members of Parliament voted 204 to 116 against the non-confidence vote, with all Liberal, NDP, Green, and Bloc Québecois MPs voting against it.
While four premiers have formally submitted letters requesting to testify before the finance committee, only five days remain before the scheduled increase.
