B.C. makes about-face, signs on to Liberal climate framework
Posted Dec 9, 2016 06:46:48 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Some last-minute megaphone diplomacy by B.C. Premier Christy Clark appears to have secured a deal on a pan-Canadian climate plan – but Saskatchewan remains outside the fold.
Moments after Clark emerged from a first minister’s meeting with Justin Trudeau to publicly kneecap the prime minister’s signature climate plan, word emerged of a compromise.
Trudeau had unilaterally imposed an escalating floor price on carbon dioxide emissions, starting at $10 in 2018 and topping out at $50 in 2022, when the policy would be reassessed.
Under the compromise deal, the carbon price would pause at B.C.’s existing $30 level in 2020, when an independent expert panel will look at how the plan is evolving.
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has already touted a “historic agreement” that includes 10 provinces and territories and three indigenous groups.
B.C.’s addition made it 11, with Saskatchewan clearly offside and Manitoba’s position not immediately clear.
