As carbon price fight flares, Wilkinson defends Liberal approach
Global News
Despite an apparent shift in support on the federal carbon price, Natural Resource Minister Jonathan Wilkinson remains confident Canadians will support government climate action.
The federal carbon price is once again at the centre of a renewed political battle, after a Conservative pledge to block House of Commons business until it is repealed.
Meanwhile, Natural Resource Minister Jonathan Wilkinson tells The West Block host Mercedes Stephenson that while tactics like filibusters are technically allowed, he calls this instance “a ridiculous game.”
“The role of the official Opposition is definitely to oppose in a constructive way and to try to make suggestions about things that should be changed,” Wilkinson said.
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer told reporters on Friday morning, after an all-night round of procedural voting on measures in the government’s Fall Economic Statement, that they’ve seen Prime Minister Justin Trudeau change his stance on carbon pricing before when pressure was applied, so that is their goal with these votes.
Scheer is referring to the three-year exemption from the carbon price on home heating oil. While this is a national program, it disproportionately affects residents in Atlantic Canada where the heat source is more common.
Wilkinson defended the move, saying that eight out of 10 Canadian families still get more back in carbon price rebates than they pay.
The minister added that a goal of the government’s climate strategy is to try and keep climate initiatives affordable for regular Canadians.
“That’s exactly why we made the decision with respect to heating oil is the disparity in terms of the price and the amount that people pay for that particular form of heating is so high that they were not getting more money back,” Wilkinson told Stephenson.
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