NDP environment critic slams Pallister as 'irresponsible' at carbon tax panel

A scheduledforum on the impact of a carbon taxinManitoba suddenly became a topical discussion Wednesday night, hours after the provincial government ditched its own plans for the levy.

For a number of guest speakers, they had to ditch their notes after thebombshell news from the province.

"Theannouncement today has changed everything. Literally, everything I was going to say is basically gone," said Robert Elms, president of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association.

What came as no surprise, however, was the absence ofManitoba's environment minister Rochelle Squires,according to NathanZahn, who organized the carbon tax forumon behalf of Science First, a group supporting evidence-based policy.

Squires cancelled her appearanceat the last minute, Zahn told a crowd ofdozens atthe panel discussion at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg.

However, a government spokesperson said Squires had never agreed to attend the forum.

"Her staff had previously sent regrets via email to the organizer on the minister's behalf," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Thursday morning. "They then followed up with a phone call to again confirm she was unable to attend."

Rob Altemeyer, the NDP's environmentcritic, saidthe Manitoba government is joining an anti-science movement that hasallies in the ruling parties inSaskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick, as well as the united right-wing party in Alberta.

"That is why I find what [Pallister] did today is so incredibly irresponsible, so incredibly anti-science and a complete betrayal of his promises to our province."

They need to impose their carbon tax onevery single province, including Manitoba, that is not going to do it themselves- NDPenvironment criticRobAltemeyer

With Manitobaturning its back, Altemeyersaid the federal government is within its rightsto withhold as much as $67million, the amount the province was entitled to receivefor signing on to the pan-Canadian climate plan.That money wassupposed to beset aside for green initiatives, he said.

"Brian Pallister has been trying to have it both ways, to claim that he is engaged in the climate change struggle while also resisting just about every initiative that came along," Altemeyer said."Nowit's clear where he actually stands."

The federal government must muster the courage to carry through, despite the opposition, Altemeyer said.

"They need to impose their carbon tax on every single province, including Manitoba, that is not going to do it themselves."

Levy a necessary step: NDP

Altemeyersaid a"carbontax is not going to get us the reductions that we need, but it will generate the revenue and the market messaging that we need in order to make real progress."

Other speakers saw a way forward for Manitoba's environment.

The trucking industry remains committed to supporting an efficiency program that motivatestruckers to adopt green technologies,saidManitoba Trucking Association president Terry Shaw.

Elms said a couple million dollars would populate Manitoba's roads with enough charge stations to make plug-in vehicles a viable mode of transportation for many.

The Manitoba government needs to see reducing emissions as an opportunity, said Nazim Cicek, a professor in biosystems engineering at the University of Manitoba.

"We areblessed to be downstream of this water body, to be downwind of the wind belt, to have sun and biomass available to us," Cicek said.

He argued consumers should strive to electrify as many of theirpurchases as theycan, like their vehicles and homes.

An incentiveto change, likea carbon tax, would only help, Cieck said.

"If we can electrify those activities, we candecarbonize simultaneously."

Claire Coleman, a Charleswood resident in attendance, said after that the province's decision to revokethe carbon tax discourages voices like the forward-thinking panellists she heard from at the forum.

"Theyhave solutions that if we applied ourselves, if the governmentapplied itself would help Manitoba to exist the way it was meant to exist."