Manitoba’s NDP Government to Call on Ottawa for Federal Carbon Tax Exemption

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, right, shakes hands with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew prior to a meeting at the legislature in Winnipeg on March 28, 2024. The Canadian Press/Steve Lambert

Manitoba has confirmed its plans to ask Ottawa to exempt the province from the carbon tax.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed the news after meeting with Premier Wab Kinew at the legislature March 28 and applauded the Manitoban leader for his “ambitious” goals for his province.

“I appreciate that he’s brought in a gas tax cut and that’s he’s called for the federal government to exempt Manitoba,” Mr. Poilievre told reporters in a press conference after the meeting.

“The fact is that Manitoba produces a phenomenal amount of green energy through its hydroelectricity, and a carbon tax will come nowhere near the environmental benefit of expanding that energy source.”

Mr. Kinew did not attend the press conference and was not available for comment after the meeting. While the province has confirmed to the media it intends to ask the federal government for a carbon tax exemption, no further details have been given.

Mr. Kinew is the second non-conservative premier to posture against the carbon tax. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, a Liberal, has joined the premiers of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, who are all from conservative parties, to cancel the carbon tax increase on April 1.

Manitoba’s premier has not publicly supported or denounced the upcoming 23 percent carbon tax hike. The April 1 increase will drive carbon pricing up $15 from $65 to $80 per tonne.

Mr. Kinew told reporters earlier this month Manitoba has a strong case to be exempt from the federal carbon price because of the hydro power. He said Manitoba was preparing a formal submission to the federal government on the issue, but offered no details or timelines or any evidence to suggest Ottawa might agree.

Manitoba has long argued that it deserves credit on the carbon front for spending billions of dollars on hydroelectric generating stations and transmission lines. Almost all electricity in the province is from hydro, but most home heating systems use imported natural gas.

Mr. Poilievre, who was in Winnipeg to attend an “axe the tax” rally, said getting rid of the carbon tax is about supporting Canadians during the cost-of-living crisis.

“When you lower the cost of energy, you lower the cost of everything,” he said.

Manitoba’s confirmation that it is seeking exemption from the carbon tax comes the same week that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau scolded the Canadian premiers who have been speaking out against the carbon tax, saying they have not offered alternative solutions to the program.

He said his government remains “open to proposals for credible systems” that put a price on pollution as long as they “meet the national benchmark.”

The prime minister has described carbon pricing as the best way to address the impacts of climate change while setting Canada up for “success in the future.”

The federal carbon tax is the price placed on the carbon content of fuels to reduce CO2 emissions. It is applied across the country except in British Columbia, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories where they collect their own fuel tax.

Carbon pricing kicked off at $20 per tonne in 2019 and will increase by $15 each year until it eventually reaches $170 per tonne in 2030. Ottawa has described the tax as a necessity to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.