'Absolutely not': No more carve-outs when it comes to carbon pricing, Trudeau says

There will be no further carbon price carve-outs, including for natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, as criticism of his decision to temporarily exempt home heating oil from the policy mounts and his cabinet tries to quiet accusations of regional political favouritism. Because heating oil is far more expensive than natural gas and a greater proportion of people who use it have no other option, the government is temporarily exempting it from the carbon price, Trudeau said. This would give home heating-oil users time and money to replace their furnaces with electric heat pumps. “There will absolutely not be any other carve-outs or suspensions of the price on pollution,” he said. In addition to exempting heating oil, the Liberals are doubling the top-up to the carbon price rebate for rural Canadians and expanding a grant program that for some lower-income Canadians will cover the full cost of installing heat pumps. Trudeau made the promise suddenly last week after mon