Trudeau says Singh, NDP 'caved' to political pressure in fight against climate change

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed the NDP and its leader Jagmeet Singh on Friday, saying that while they may care about the environment, they have "no idea what to do in the fight against climate change."

At a news conference in the Montreal suburb of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que.,Trudeau accused the NDP of "playing simple politics"and "walking away from progressive values" after itendedits confidence-and-supplyagreement with the Liberals last week.

WATCH: Trudeau says Singh 'caved' to Conservatives

Trudeau says Singh and NDP 'caving' to Conservatives on pollution pricing

7 days ago

Duration 2:22

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh of 'caving to the political pressures from Pierre Poilievre and from the Conservatives.' It comes after news the federal NDP is changing its stance on what to do about a price on pollution.

"Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are caving to the political pressures from Pierre Poilievre and from the Conservatives," Trudeau told reporters in response to a question about the upcoming byelection in the Montreal riding of LaSallemardVerdun. "That's just not on, and that's not what Montrealers expect or deserve."

The prime minister's comments come as support for the carbon tax among progressive political leaders appears to be waning.

On Thursday, Singh refused to explain his current position on consumer carbon pricing and suggested that both the Liberals' and the Conservatives' approachto fighting the climate crisis has "put the burden on the backs of working people."

"We've been working on a plan, and we'll be releasing our plan, our vision for how we can do that in a stronger way, in the coming months," Singh said Thursday.

B.C. Premier David Eby said at a campaign event later that day in Vancouver that if Ottawa drops itslegal requirement for consumer carbon pricing, his NDP government would get rid of the carbon taxand focus instead on "big polluters."

"Two things will happen. One is we'll remove the carbon tax for everyday British Columbians, for the farmers, for the truckers, for the average British Columbian," Eby said.

"The second thing is we believe that climate change is a real and present threat," he added, vowing that his government would ensure "that the big polluters are paying their fair share."

In March, Eby dismissed an offer from Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to help stop a federal carbon price increase, callingita "baloney factory" campaign tactic.

Poilievrehas said he would end the carbon tax brought in by the Liberal government and blamesit for driving up the cost of living. People in jurisdictions where the federal carbon price is in place receive rebates.

The Conservative leader has been unclear on whether he would cancel both the consumer carbon levy which is charged to individuals and smaller businesses and the separate system that applies to big industry.

In a media statement,the Green Party of Canada (GPC) said both the federal and B.C. NDP have "abandoned even their hypocrisy on climate change" and questioned why the federal NDP a "so-called progressive party" would turn its back on "a proven solution" like carbon pricing.

"It's a backward-looking policy move that is clearly an attempt to pull back votes the NDP is losing to the Conservatives," the statement says.

"It has been clear for years that Singh would not oppose pipelines for fear of offending Alberta New Democrats, nor oppose fracking to keep the B.C. greenhouse gas-boosting NDP on the side."

Progressives engaged in a 'race to the bottom':climate advocate

"Progressive politicians are engaging in a race to the bottom when it comes to climate policy," saidCaroline Brouillette, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada.

"There's an unfortunate and very troubling lack of vision and policy creativity right now, as we are just emerging from a devastating summer of climate impacts.

"What we're not hearing about is what they are going to do more to help folks navigate the impact of rising oil and gas prices on their wallets, while at the same time reduce emissions to tackle the climate crisis."

Brouillette argued disinformation campaigns have left many people thinking climate policyisresponsible for the inflation crisis, whenthe true culpritis the fossil fuel industry.

The current political debate on carbon pricing is "collectively distracting us from putting the blame where it should be," she added.