Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister did an about-face on carbon taxes Wednesday, abandoning plans to start charging a levy in December and joining other conservative leaders in flat-out opposition to federal plans.
Pallister announced a year ago he would enact a $25-a-tonne carbon tax and keep it at that rate. That would have increased the price of gasoline by 5.3 cents a litre and raised other energy costs. The federal government has said provinces have to enact a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax that would start at $10 a tonne this year and rise to $50 a tonne by 2022.
"We're forced to either fight (the federal government) in a year, when they invoke a higher tax .... or to stand up to them now. We're choosing to do it now, not then, because we hope that this will give clarity sooner than if we wait."
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