Fighting climate change shouldn't come at expense of working class: Manitoba premier

Power Play: One-on-one with Wab Kinew Man. Premier Wab Kinew says the carbon tax's lack of financial balance for the working class could hurt Canada's climate change efforts.

Tackling climate change should not come at the expense of the working class, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Monday, arguing that Canadians need flexibility in the face of high inflation.

The NDP premier also says the federal government's price on carbon, often referred to as the carbon tax, is not a "silver bullet."

Kinew made the remarks to CTV Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in Halifax, where the country's premiers met and urged the federal government to ensure its policies, including the carbon price, are equitable, especially with the country's ongoing affordability challenges.

"The single greatest threat to us solving global warming is if we lose the working class, is if we lose the middle class in Canada, and right now people are hurting because of inflation," he said.

"So we need to show flexibility, we need to show that a government like ours, which is committed to solving global warming, is not going to just put you through economic hardship without listening to your concerns."

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his government would pause the carbon price on home heating oil for three years to make it easier for users to switch to electric heat pumps.

He said at the time of the announcement that this would be welcomed in Atlantic Canada, where a disproportionately large number of homes and businesses use heating oil in the colder months.

But premiers in Western Canada, where most residents use natural gas as a heat source, have said it's unfair that they've been left without any carbon tax carve-outs.

Kinew, who led the Manitoba NDP to a majority government in last month's election, said he believes there needs to be a balance between the climate agenda and helping the working and middle classes.

Asked about the federal carbon price, he said he would like to see more information on how much this has reduced greenhouse gas emissions since it came into effect about half a decade ago, compared to other means such as heat pumps and electric vehicle rebates.

"The federal carbon tax is not a silver bullet. We would all want to see a silver bullet on the climate. But it actually is starting to look more and more like it's going to be a whole suite of initiatives on home heating, on electrifying transportation, on different sectors of our economy, that when you put them together serve to reduce emissions, serve to help us solve global warming," he said.

"So I think we need to see some data, we need to see some evidence in terms of which of these policies in the toolbox are going to most move the needle to help us solve global warming."

Watch the full interview with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew at the top of the article.

With files from The Canadian Press.