Premier Ranj Pillai won’t flip-flop on issues of the day like he said the Yukon Party does or fold like he indicated other jurisdictions have when it comes to the federally imposed carbon tax, which is set to go up by $15 from $65 to $80 per tonne of carbon emitted on April 1.
Pillai indicated he is willing to make carbon pricing an election issue.
Yukon Party MLAs are calling on Pillai to join a growing number of provincial leaders, including the only other Liberal premier, in demanding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put a pin on the upcoming carbon price increase and calling for exemptions on home heating oil.
In the house, Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon framed not joining the chorus as advocating against Yukoners’ interests, given that the tax will rise amid what he calls a “cost-of-living crisis” and that about half of Yukon households use heating oil to heat their homes.
During question period in the Yukon Legislative Assembly on March 13, the Official Opposition asked the premier if he would “stand up for Yukoners.”
Pillai said he’s sticking to it since he hasn’t seen a better offer on the table.
“This is the commitment I will make to Yukoners: I will stand up for our future generations. I will stand up on the right thing to do,” Pillai told the legislature at the end of two rounds of questions on the matter, although the Yukon Party regularly raises the topic.
“If this means that Yukoners in the next election feel that this is something that they want to vote against me or us on, okay, so be it, but I will stand up for what we believe in; I will stand up for what is right for the next generation, and that’s how we’re going to govern.”
Since 2019, the federal policy involves a tax on fossil fuels and rebates paid out to households. It is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by offering a financial incentive for people and businesses to pollute less.
On March 13, Finance Minister Sandy Silver said the former Yukon Party government “signed us up” for a carbon-pricing mechanism and the party campaigned on it in the 2021 territorial elections but don’t have a plan for moving forward.
Silver argued “bold action” is needed locally, nationally and globally to fight against climate change during this “pivotal moment.”
“As we approach another summer and another spring, many of us are thinking about the potential of floods and fires across the territory. Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to not retreat from carbon pricing,” he said.
“I know that the members opposite believe in climate change — I know that — but they don’t have a plan to address it. They’re asking us to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and they will not give us any plan to address climate change.”
Silver said the “Yukon carbon rebate program returns all of the carbon levies back to individuals, back to businesses, First Nation governments and municipalities.”
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com