Trudeau challenged over carbon pricing on 2nd day of town hall tour

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pressed to justify the implementation of a federal price on carbon during a town hall forum on the second day of his whirlwind outreach tour on Friday.

At a public meeting in Peterborough, Ont., Trudeau was asked by a woman struggling to pay her bills, amid high hydro costs in the province, why he was proceeding with a carbon price.

“I feel like you have failed me and I’m asking you today to fix that,” said the woman, who later identified herself as Kathy Katula of Buckhorn, Ont. “My heat and hydro (electricity) now cost me more than my mortgage.”

“I’m asking you Mr. Trudeau, how do you justify to a mother of four children, three grandchildren, with physical disabilities, and working up to 15 hours a day, how is it justified for you to ask me to pay a carbon tax when I only have $65 left in my paycheque every two weeks to feed my family,” she said to applause.

Trudeau answers carbon tax question1:38

Defending his policy on climate change, Trudeau said Canada needs to make a transition away from fossil fuels, but that governments need to ensure that the most vulnerable are taken into account.

“What’s so important is we do not penalize people who are already stretched beyond the breaking limit in terms of their finances,” Trudeau said.

The prime minister noted that revenues from the price will stay with provincial governments to be used as they see fit, while clarifying that the national carbon pricing requirement doesn’t kick in until 2019.

Katula later told reporters she wasn’t angry, and praised Trudeau for taking part in the town hall.

“He’s proven today he’s not just hanging out with rich millionaires. I’m not a rich millionaire, he came out and spoke to me today,” she said. “I’m proud of him.”

But she said she wanted Trudeau to justify the impact on rural Canadians. “I understand that a carbon tax is good for our environment, but why should someone like myself, who’s barely making it, be responsible for better transit in Toronto, for electric cars and charging stations? I’ll never be able to afford that and I’m not adding to the pollution.”

Trudeau also faced questions on his government’s decision to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline in B.C., on protection of waterways and why he wanted to be prime minister.

Trudeau is expected to take reporters’ questions at 12:30 p.m. ET. CBCnews.ca will carry his remarks live.

Breakfast with military families

Trudeau’s day began at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario on Friday morning.

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He was up at 5 a.m. to go for a five-kilometre run with parachute jump instructors from the Canadian Army Advance Warfare Center before having breakfast with military families in its mess hall. 

After stopping in Peterborough, Trudeau’s Friday includes another town hall forum in London, Ont., and a number of photo opportunities, including one with young people from La Loche, Sask., at the Toronto Raptors training facility.

Trudeau admitted that his day started earlier that he was used to on Friday, as he went for an early-morning run with some troops, ordered a hearty breakfast and met military families at CFB Trenton after staying in the area overnight. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

The prime minister has faced questions on the campaign-style tour about a range of issues including electoral reform, the environment and the government’s handling of the Phoenix pay system controversy.

Trudeau told a large crowd that gathered for a town hall Thursday night in Belleville, Ont., that he will stand up for diversity and feminism during Donald Trump’s presidency.

Trudeau’s tour comes as his own team tries to fend off criticism about cash-for-access events and a recent trip to the Bahamas, where he visited the Aga Khan and travelled on the spiritual leader’s helicopter.

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After Friday, Trudeau heads off to Quebec, B.C. and the Prairies, then the Atlantic provinces and the North.

Twins Gavin, left, and Tristan Hepburn met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an event for military families at CFB Trenton Friday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-outreach-tour-friday-1.3934001?cmp=rss