Manitoba premier says he'll take up PM's challenge to find carbon tax alternative

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says he'll take up the prime minister's challenge to provinces that oppose the federal carbon tax to come up with a credible alternative.

In an interview with CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, Kinew said his government will make the case that Manitoba does not need the federal backstop.

«Manitoba has a really strong case to make that we've got a very credible path to net zero,» he said in the interview, which aired Sunday on.

Kinew said Manitoba has already «effectively decarbonized our electricity» thanks to investments in the province's hydro grid over the past 50 years. In addition, he said new measures in his government's upcoming budget, to be released Tuesday, will put Manitoba on track to meet the zero-emissions target without the consumer-facing federal tax.

«Governments like ours that are committed to solving the climate crisis, at least doing our part, we have to show that we're going to be flexible, we're going to keep life affordable,» he said.

The Manitoba government confirmed on Thursday that it would be putting forward a proposal to exempt the province from the federal carbon tax. At a news conference in Toronto on Saturday, federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland welcomed the development.

«Where provinces and territories are interested in and are prepared to come forward with their own provincial or territorial plans to put a price on pollution, we are very, very keen to work with them,» she said.

In a letter Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau challenged premiers who oppose the carbon tax to come up with their own approach to pricing carbon. The letter came in response to calls from seven of Canada's premiers to pause the tax increase, set to take effect