Opinion: It's unusual for federal politicians to go after provincial politicians and vice versa. But, for Eby, only Poilievre matches his poll numbers in B.C.
VICTORIA — Premier David Eby was on the defensive Monday, responding to the latest blast from federal Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre over the pending 23 per cent increase in the made-in-B. C. carbon tax.
Poilievre wrote Eby last week urging him not to proceed with the next increase in the provincial carbon tax, scheduled for April 1.
He also asked the B.C. premier to join seven other Canadian premiers and call on Ottawa to stop the next hike in the federal parallel carbon tax, which takes effect the same day.
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Eby fired back, stung by the federal leader’s intrusion into the provincial arena on the politically sensitive matter of a tax increase.
“I don’t live in the Pierre Poilievre campaign office and baloney factory,” fumed Eby, whose own campaign for provincial office is underway.
Poilievre soon responded in kind to the premier’s personal attack.
“Under NDP Premier Eby and Justin Trudeau, many British Columbians are forced to eat baloney because they can’t afford anything else,” the federal Opposition leader told Rob Shaw of CHEK TV.
“It takes 29 years in Vancouver to save up for a down payment. Food bank use is at record highs. We have tent cities right across Vancouver Island because people can’t afford to pay their rent.
Justin Trudeau and the NDP think now is the time to hike people’s taxes by 23 per cent. It’s insane.”
Eby did respond to Poilievre during a news conference Monday, but with no more mention of baloney.
Instead he described the issue as “challenging,” given the intricacies of the federal and provincial carbon tax regimes.
B.C. is allowed to administer its pioneering carbon tax so long as it increases in lockstep to the federal rate. If not, Ottawa would substitute its own tax.
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Eby says needy British Columbians would then be deprived of the next increase in the province’s climate tax credit.
If the federal Opposition leader were really concerned about affordability, he ought to take “all aspects” of it into account, said Eby.
He suggested Poilievre could reach out to B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon — they’ve both been surfing the Poilievre-generated wave of opposition to the carbon tax — and instead urge them to support the B.C. NDP government’s housing programs.
Warming to the game of political finger pointing, Eby revisited another issue where he disdains Poilievre’s stance.
“He, and Mr, Rustad, in the middle of a measles outbreak in Quebec, measles cases in British Columbia, are advocating that unvaccinated health workers be given free rein in our hospitals and in our long-term care homes,” Eby charged Friday.
“Measles kills babies. That is reality. Unvaccinated health workers, if there’s a measles outbreak in British Columbia and it’s spreading in communities, will bring measles into our hospitals.”
On Monday, Eby again expressed exasperation over how the two Conservative leaders were handling the issue.
“It’s beyond me how these people think,” he told reporters, while acknowledging that he was probably the “least suitable” person to analyze Conservative policies.
“I’ll leave it to Mr. Poilievre to explain his thought processes,” said the B.C. premier with undisguised contempt.
The exchange of rhetorical fire between the B.C. premier and the federal Opposition leader was unusual. Most B.C. politicians keep to their side of the federal-provincial divide.
But attacking the NDP premier suited Poilievre because Justin Trudeau wouldn’t be prime minister without NDP support. It suited Eby because he hopes to gain votes from British Columbians who vote Liberal in federal elections.
Still, in going after Poilievre, Eby is taking on the only political leader whose popularity in B.C. rivals his own.
Depending on the outcomes of the next federal and provincial elections, Premier Eby may find himself dealing with Prime Minister Poilievre.
“I am certain that if Mr. Poilievre succeeds in being elected as prime minister that I will find a way to have a working relationship with him,” a confident Eby assured reporters.
“But I hope that if he does obtain that office that he bases his decisions and his work with our province on reality and on the lived experience of British Columbians instead of on ideology.”
Eby was asked about the latest poll from the Angus Reid foundation showing that 51 per cent of those surveyed in B.C. said “it’s time for a change of government.”
The same poll showed that people couldn’t agree on a replacement. NDP: 43 per cent. B.C. Conservatives: 22. B.C. United: 22. Greens 12.
The premier says the only poll that counts is the one on Oct. 19 and between now and then it is his job to lay out what to expect from a second term of Eby government.
One projection not likely to make the highlights package is a steady increase in the carbon tax, which the New Democrats have transformed into a cash cow.
Their budget and fiscal plan, presented in February, says the carbon tax will raise $9 billion over three years.
The New Democrats plan to give back $3.5 billion in climate action tax credits to low and middle-income folks, and spend the rest as they see fit.
vpalmer@postmedia.com
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