Local leaders booed Justin Trudeau after he claimed the carbon tax gives Canadians more than it takes away.
On June 7, the Prime Minister met with local representatives at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Annual Conference and Trade Show in Calgary. During the conference, Trudeau spoke on stage with Halifax Mayor Mike Savage and responded to questions from the audience of mayors, councillors and municipal representatives from across Canada.
One audience member asked Trudeau about his plan to balance the budget after adding over $1 trillion to the national budget over 10 years. Trudeau responded by listing Canada’s economic accomplishments and how he supports affordability, naming the carbon tax as an example.
“(The carbon price) actually puts more money in the pockets of eight out of ten Canadian families. That’s a parliamentary budget officer who says that. It’s absolutely true,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau was then met with a chorus of boos and jeers from attendees at the FCM conference, which represents 2,100 municipalities.
Trudeau, smiling uncomfortably, responded: “Ha ha.”
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The FCM met over the weekend to ask the federal government to commit to a new municipal growth framework. The framework calls on the government to modernize funding, commit to a new support framework, and end chronic homelessness.
“Cities are growing but our revenues are not growing,” Savage told CTV News. “We need to have a new system.”
Funding would help municipalities “fund, maintain and improve” essential infrastructure and services, which are struggling “due to an outdated revenue framework that is creaking under Canada’s record population growth,” the FCM said in a news release on June 6.
The FCM is requesting the federal government make a commitment by the end of summer. They want the 2024 Fall Economic Statement to express the government’s willingness to negotiate on the new framework.
However, Trudeau has so far refused to commit to the proposed recommendations.
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