This was supposed to be Justin Trudeau’s show, but he couldn’t stop B.C.’s Christy Clark from displaying her own flair for theatre.
The climate-change summit with the premiers was to mark the culmination of Mr. Trudeau’s first full year of prime ministership, sealing it with a pan-Canadian deal on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. It’s a big deal. Unprecedented. The PM’s aides had so-called stakeholders, such as environmental groups, lined up to praise the agreement. And Mr. Trudeau was expecting to take a bow at 5:30 p.m.
Then Ms. Clark stole the limelight. She is months away from an election, and was arguing the deal was unfair to B.C. She claimed her province’s $30-a-tonne carbon tax is twice as costly as the cap-and-trade price that Ontarians and Quebeckers will pay. And B.C., she said, wouldn’t sign on to a deal that would raise carbon taxes to $50 in 2022 – as Mr. Trudeau insists – unless all provinces will pay the same.
Campbell Clark – Globe and Mail – December 9, 2016.
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