Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sending mixed messages on climate policy, environment experts say, after he diluted his signature carbon tax policy to ease cost-of-living burdens in a region that has been a stronghold for his party.
Experts say Trudeau's carbon pricing scheme, known as the carbon tax, works well and cannot be easily replaced. But after he offered a three-year exemption on heating oil to appease voters on the Atlantic coast, the policy is under siege.
Provincial leaders across Canada are asking for relief for households using natural gas for heating. Even the left-leaning New Democrats, who support Trudeau's government in parliament and have previously defended the carbon tax, are calling for the exemption.