Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Atlantic Canada Expresses Doubts About Carbon Tax On Electricity

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 03 Mar, 2016 10:49 AM
    VANCOUVER — After spending heavily on hydro-electric transmission, Nova Scotia's premier says his colleagues in Atlantic Canada don't want to see carbon taxes levied on electricity.
     
    Arriving for talks on climate change with the prime minister and premiers, Stephen McNeil says Atlantic Canadians already pay the highest electricity rates in the country.
     
    Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski is also entering the meetings in Vancouver opposed to a national price on carbon.
     
    The first ministers' meeting has taken on a fractious atmosphere amid squabbling over who was invited to the table, pipeline politics and a dispute over carbon pricing.
     
    Expectations for the meeting — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's second with the premiers since taking office in November — have been repeatedly lowered and the goal now is to find a common front in continuing a process toward a national policy framework.
     
    Four working groups will be set up with six-month deadlines to assess policy options, including a group that will study Canada's various existing carbon pricing systems.
     
    McNeil says his fellow premiers on the East Coast agree that electricity rates already carry a form of carbon tax.
     
    "We believe our carbon tax is actually in our power rates in Atlantic Canada, but we're prepared to have a conversation about what's in the best interests of Canada," he said.
     
    On Wednesday, Premier Brad Wall said Saskatchewan will play a "constructive role" at the meeting.
     
    Wall has been in the thick of the fray in the lead-up to Thursday's formal sit-down, repeatedly levelling broadsides at the Liberal platform promise of putting a national price on carbon.
     
    Wall tells The Canadian Press that Saskatchewan officials will "absolutely, absolutely" be participating in the working groups, dismissing talk that the province might boycott the carbon talks.
     
    "We'll play a constructive role," Wall said following a meeting between the premiers, indigenous leaders and Trudeau.
     
    "We'll have a good day."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    New Brunswick Premier Looks To Draw Cybersecurity Jobs With Centre Of Excellence

    Premier Brian Gallant was in San Francisco Tuesday to promote the province to information technology companies at a major cybersecurity conference.

    New Brunswick Premier Looks To Draw Cybersecurity Jobs With Centre Of Excellence

    Consumers Eye New Options As CRTC-Mandated Trimmed Down TV Takes Effect

    Consumers Eye New Options As CRTC-Mandated Trimmed Down TV Takes Effect
    Canada's major TV service providers say it's too early to tell how many of their customers will choose to switch to the new slimmed-down services that are on offer as of today.

    Consumers Eye New Options As CRTC-Mandated Trimmed Down TV Takes Effect

    Market-oriented Group Wants To Speed 'Once-in-lifetime' Clean Economy Transition

    Market-oriented Group Wants To Speed 'Once-in-lifetime' Clean Economy Transition
    Smart Prosperity officially launches Tuesday in Vancouver with a boost from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal government's climate agenda appears to dovetail with the economic transformation envisioned by the new market-oriented group.

    Market-oriented Group Wants To Speed 'Once-in-lifetime' Clean Economy Transition

    Forcing News Outlet To Turn Over Source Materials 'Dangerous,' Court Told

    Forcing News Outlet To Turn Over Source Materials 'Dangerous,' Court Told
    Iain MacKinnon tells Ontario Superior Court that RCMP were on a sweeping fishing expedition when they asked Vice Media and its reporter for its records.

    Forcing News Outlet To Turn Over Source Materials 'Dangerous,' Court Told

    Albertans Asked To Give Input On Doctor-assisted Death In Online Survey

    EDMONTON — The Alberta government wants to hear what residents think about doctor-assisted death.

    Albertans Asked To Give Input On Doctor-assisted Death In Online Survey

    Dry Spring Forecast For Canadian Farmers, Weather Network Predicts

    Dry Spring Forecast For Canadian Farmers, Weather Network Predicts
    Canada's farmers could be gearing up for a difficult season, as meteorologists are forecasting a dry spring in agricultural regions.

    Dry Spring Forecast For Canadian Farmers, Weather Network Predicts