Premiers Higgs, Smith call on MPs to abandon carbon pricing program

Conservative premiers continued their war on the Liberal government's carbon pricing policy Thursday, telling MPs on a parliamentary committee that the planned increase to the price should be scrapped along with the entire federal program.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs made their arguments before the government operations and estimates committee, a day after Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe appeared to make similar arguments.

Smith said the planned increase from $65 to $80 per tonne, scheduled for April 1, should be called off. She also described the plan to increase the price to $170 per tonne by 2030 as «reckless,» «immoral» and «inhumane.»

«The added pressure will ruin countless lives, futures and dreams. It's a weight that Canadians can't bear,» Smith said. «It's why Alberta has been calling on the federal government to eliminate the carbon tax since 2019.»

Smith said inflation over the past two years has increased the price of everything in her province, forcing families and businesses to make deep cuts to survive, and now is not the time to raise the price on carbon emissions.

The operations and estimates committee is tasked with studying government spending on things like Canada Post, the Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board and Shared Services Canada.

But the Conservative chair of the committee, Kelly McCauley, invited the premiers to appear and voice their opinions about the carbon price over protests from Liberal members of the committee.

A back and forth debate raged for the first 25 minutes of Thursday's meeting as Liberal MPs and McCauley traded barbs on the relevance of the witnesses and the process through which they were invited.

The federal carbon price,