Trudeau says N.L. premier bowing to political pressure over carbon tax increase

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey's call to delay the federal carbon tax is a sign he is caving to political pressure.

"I think Mr. Furey is continuing to bow to political pressure," Trudeau said in response to a question about the premier's stance during an event in Montreal on Friday morning. "I think Canadians in Newfoundland and Labrador and right across the country expect their governments to do the right thing."

Trudeau said that meant fighting climate change and spurring technological innovation. He said the carbon tax rebate was financially beneficial for roughly eight in 10 Canadians.

"It's basic math," he said.

The remarks on Friday mark another scuffle in the war of words between the two Liberal compatriots, which began when Furey shared an open letter on Tuesday calling for a planned carbon tax increase on April 1 to be delayed. Furey is the only remaining Liberal provincial premier.

The federal carbon tax is scheduled to rise from $65 per tonne to $80 on April 1, a roughly 25 per cent increase.

Trudeau has faced pressure from provinces and territories — all of which use at least part of the federal tax system, except for British Columbia, Quebec and the Northwest Territories — to delay the planned increase.

Premiers in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia have all called for Trudeau to pause or cancel the coming carbon tax increase.

Saskatchewan has gone further than other provinces, saying it won't remit the carbon tax levied on natural gas to the federal government. It's protesting an exemption that Ottawa carved out for home heating oil, arguing that natural gas should receive the same treatment.

In French, Trudeau said he understood that some premiers across the country were opposed from the start to the idea of the carbon tax, but he said he believed the carbon tax allowed the market to incentivize investment in lower-emitting technologies while rewarding Canadians who change their behaviour.

"Taking away the price on pollution, or levelling it off where it is, would actually mean less money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians in the jurisdictions where it's imposed, which doesn't make sense," the prime minister said on Wednesday.

Premier Furey's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The carbon tax has been perhaps the most prominent focus of the Conservative critique of the sitting government, with Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre regularly calling for the policy to be scrapped during "Axe the Tax" rallies across the country.

"Trudeau is facing a provincial revolt," Poilievre said in a statement on Wednesday. "But Trudeau isn't listening."