If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hoped his whirlwind cross-country outreach tour would yield authentic exchanges with everyday Canadians, he got a heavy dose of the grassroots reality he was looking for in Peterborough, Ont., on Friday.
A grandmother tearfully confronted Trudeau about Ottawa鈥檚 planned carbon tax, saying her already steep energy bills have left her struggling to put food on the table for her family, even though she works 15 hours per day.
鈥淗ow 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?鈥� Kathy Katula said to hearty applause at the public question-and-answer session.
鈥淚 make almost $50,000 a year, Mr. Trudeau, and I鈥檓 living in energy poverty. Please tell me how are you going to fix that for me and all of us in rural Ontario?鈥�
Last year, Trudeau announced a new nation-wide $10 per tonne carbon tax that will start in 2018 -- a price that will rise by $10 per year, topping out at $50 by 2022.
The planned policy has received harsh criticism from provincial leaders in Canada鈥檚 energy patch who warn taxing carbon will reduce household incomes. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has estimated the tax will siphon more than $2.5 billion from his province's economy once fully implemented, and cost the average family $1,250 a year.
The prime minister responded that he sympathized with Katula鈥檚 plight and that she should be 鈥渇ocused on how you are going to spoil your grandchildren with all of your energy, as opposed to how you are going to get through the week or the day.鈥�
Trudeau also noted the importance of ensuring financially vulnerable individuals are not 鈥渟tretched beyond the limit.鈥�
He stressed that while hydro rates are a provincial concern, it鈥檚 essential that Canada 鈥渄emonstrate leadership鈥� on renewable energy and fighting climate change.
Trudeau and Katula hugged after the meeting. The mother of four and grandmother of three who lives alone with disabilities said she hopes her story sticks with Trudeau 鈥渨hen he is lying in bed at night.鈥�
The exchange wasn鈥檛 the only unflattering moment two days into the tour. The prime minister is also under fire for travelling on the private helicopter belonging to the Aga Khan, the billionaire spiritual leader whose foundation does business with the Canadian government. The Aga Khan Foundation of Canada receives tens of millions of dollars a year from Canada for humanitarian work.
The ride to a remote island owned by Khan took place while Trudeau and his family were on a recent vacation in the Bahamas. Opposition parties say he broke conflict of interest regulations. Canada鈥檚 ethics commissioner has launched a 鈥減reliminary review.鈥�
Trudeau said he鈥檚 鈥渉appy to engage with any questions the ethics commissioner or Canadians may have鈥� about his vacation. He said Canadians expect to have confidence in their government, which is part of the conversation he鈥檒l be having with the ethics commissioner Mary Dawson about what he calls a "personal family vacation."
Both the Conflict of Interest Act and Trudeau鈥檚 own ethics guidelines bar the use of sponsored travel in private aircraft, allowing only for exceptional circumstances related to the job of prime minister and only with the prior approval of the ethics commissioner.
With files from the Canadian Press
