Provincial finance ministers press Freeland on carbon tax changes during CPP meeting
CBC
A number of provincial finance ministers said they pressed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on the federal government's recent changes to the carbon tax during a meeting on Friday.
Freeland called the meeting to discuss Alberta's proposal to leave the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP). A number of finance ministers said the carbon tax was also raised.
Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said he and a number of other ministers brought up the issue but it wasn't fully addressed during the meeting.
"Canadians remain in the midst of an affordability crisis and the carbon tax continues to hurt us all. While a number of us had hoped to also address this issue during the call, I am very eager to have a fulsome conversation at our next [meeting]," he said in a media statement.
Saskatchewan Finance Minister Donna Harpauer expressed frustration with what she called Freeland's reluctance to discuss the carbon tax.
"I am extremely disappointed with the complete disregard from Minister Freeland to speak about the carbon tax crisis," Harpauer said in a media statement.
During a press conference following the meeting, Freeland was asked about provincial ministers wanting to discuss the carbon tax. She said Friday's meeting was meant to discuss the CPP and pointed out that she called the meeting at Ontario's request.
"I called a special meeting. Ministers came to attend the meeting specifically because of that invitation to discuss that subject," she said. "I absolutely recognize that there are a lot of different issues that provinces and territories are interested in."
The finance ministers are set to hold an annual meeting in December. Freeland suggested other topics could be discussed there.
The Liberals have been facing a wave of political backlash after announcing a three-year carbon tax exemption for heating oil.
Some opposition parties and premiers have said that exemption isn't fair to those who heat their homes with other fuels such as natural gas and propane.
While the exemption for home heating oil applies across the country, its effects will be felt most in Atlantic Canada.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, almost one in five households use home heating oil. Two in five Prince Edward Island households and one in three Nova Scotia households are heated with furnace oil. In New Brunswick, one in about every 14 households uses home heating oil.
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the exemption last week, he said the Atlantic Liberal caucus had been calling for the change.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
The N.W.T.'s public utilities board has denied part of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation's (NTPC) request to increase rates, and directed it to cut planned increases to management salaries and benefits.
After reporting an 11-year high for collision fatalities last year, Calgary is turning to new technology in an attempt to make its roads safer.
There will be no changes to Cambridge's fireworks bylaw — for now.
Eric Huntington built his dream cabin nestled in the wilderness of central Alaska, eventually raising two daughters there. But over the years, he learned that living in this quiet, remote village came with a hefty cost.
Israel's war with Iran has temporarily delayed a reckoning with some of its main Western allies, but seems unlikely to close what has become a yawning gap between them over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.
As the G7 summit concludes in the popular wilderness destination of Kananaskis, Alta., officials say provincial teams managed frequent animal encounters without serious incident.
Toronto police say a 21-year-old man has been charged in an armed carjacking, after he fell from the Gardiner Expressway on Monday night while allegedly fleeing from officers.
Tenants of buildings owned by a wanted fugitive could be safe from eviction if the bank or a new landlord take over, a legal expert says.
Residents of Badger, N.L. are fleeing the community as smoke from a nearby wildfire clouds the air, and waterbombers pass overhead every few minutes.
A Nova Scotia jury has found a 34-year-old man guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of battle rapper Pat Stay, a 36-year-old father of two who was fatally stabbed 2½ years ago at a downtown Halifax nightclub.
Some property owners in Saint Andrews are speaking out against a plan to refurbish the Market Wharf, although the design was chosen by the public in a community vote.
The lone survivor of a mass shooting in a West Broadway rooming house is being mourned by his family after he died in a Winnipeg hospital earlier this month, more than a year and a half after the shooting that left four others dead.
The mayor of Creighton says residents will have to remain patient, as the northeastern Saskatchewan town waits for health-care services to restart in the neighbouring city of Flin Flon, Man.