British Columbia Opposition Leader John Rustad has found a carbon tax he likes, proposing such a levy on U.S. thermal coal shipped out of provincial ports as a way to pressure the White House not to impose fresh tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.
Rustad said the tax on U.S. coal could be a “tool to fight back” on softwood tariffs and duties proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has also proposed tariffs on all Canadian exports.
“We need to be able to create the environment to have a deal with the Americans. We can’t carry on like this on softwood lumber,” Rustad said on Monday.
Rustad was ejected from the former BC Liberal party in 2022 after questioning the role of carbon dioxide emissions on climate change and has long been a critic of B.C.’s own carbon tax.