Federal NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona Heather McPherson joins Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss an upcoming federal election and more.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: Let’s start on the removal of the consumer carbon tax.
How does that sit with you, and what does it say about the direction of climate change policy moving forward?
Heather McPherson: The consumer carbon tax wasn’t reducing emissions. It wasn’t working. The Liberals had broken that consumer tax when they did carve outs. That system wasn’t working.
What we need are solutions that will actually address the climate crisis, that will actually lower emissions - and that wasn’t it.
The other thing is, the average consumer, was paying about 14 times more than industry was on the on the carbon tax, so that that was deeply unfair to those who needed to drive to get to school, to work, back home in this giant country.
MH: So as far as you’re concerned, industrial emitters should continue to be taxed?
HM: Absolutely. Yesterday, when we saw Pierre Poilievre say they would cut the industrial carbon tax, it just shows such an appalling understanding of how that taxation works.
We can’t develop trade relationships with European countries unless we have a price on pollution. That’s part of those trade relationships.
I understand that Pierre Poilievre really wants to continue to use his axe the tax signs, he probably still wants to use that slogan. But we need to have a price on pollution, because we need to diversify, now more than ever, with the threats coming from the U.S.
Now more than ever we need to diversify our trade relationships, and countries around the world require that we have a price on carbon.
MH: As far as a federal election call – is it your preference that the call come sooner than later?
Or would you rather see a return to parliament on March 24 and an end to prorogation?
HM: This is going to be Mr. Carney’s choice. Mr. Carney will make a decision on whether we go back to Parliament next Monday or not.
I obviously did not agree with the prorogation of Parliament. I think at this moment in time we needed to be in Parliament. We would have liked to have seen legislation that would have helped workers, knowing that there will be impacts on workers across the country because of the illegal trade war that Donald Trump has started.
We would have liked to have seen Parliament sitting. The Liberals chose to prorogue. They have the right to do that, of course, and Mr. Carney will make a decision on whether we go back on Monday. Now it is unlikely that will happen, because he’s not he’s not elected, so he’s not able to go into the chamber of the House of Commons. So I expect that he will call that election before we get a chance to go back.
MH: You’re already door-knocking.
What is the dominant discussion that you’re encountering from constituents?
HM: I door knock all year round, election year or not, just because I want to make sure I keep a bit of a finger on the pulse of the community I represent. It has been just such a phenomenal shift.
The number one issue folks are talking about right now is the tariffs, is the threat that Donald Trump poses to our economy, to our sovereignty. That is the number one thing that people are concerned about and are talking about.
MH: How do you feel Canada should be approaching this issue of dealing with the threat of tariffs, with the threat of annexation?
HM: I think that there’s so many things that Canada can do.
We often forget, as Canadians, we are the ninth largest economy. We have an enormous amount of resources, natural resources, that the U.S. wants.
I agree with the counter tariffs. I think there needs to be export taxation put in place. I think we should be making the U.S. pay. That taxation means that the money stays here, and that money can then be used to support Canadian workers that are impacted.
I think we should be withholding things like our critical minerals, our energy - potash, from Saskatchewan, for example. I think we should be reducing provincial barriers so that we can trade between provinces.
These are things we should have been doing before anyway, but we have that extra impetus. Let’s build more things in Canada with Canadian materials and Canadian workers.
Let’s develop more relationships with other places in the in the world. We can have trade relationships with Europe, with the Indo Pacific region, with other areas. We’re not going to stop trading with the U.S., but we certainly can diversify those trade relationships and build a stronger economy.
We saw during COVID, we couldn’t even make vaccines here. We couldn’t make our own PPE. Why not? We’ve got amazing workers, we’ve got the technology, we’ve got the skills. Let’s invest in some of those things. Let’s invest in some infrastructure projects.
MH: You bring up energy – you also mentioned export taxation.
Where do you weigh in then on politicians like Ontario’s Doug Ford pushing Alberta to use oil and gas as a retaliation tool?
HM: One of the things I’ve been so incredibly proud of is how Canadians have come together and said: No, we are a polite people, we are kind people, but don’t push us, because elbows up, right?
I think every one of us needs to know that. We need to be able to do our part. There are chips on the table that we can use, and energy is one of them.
Doug Ford has threatened to cut off energy from Ontario - like I said, potash from Saskatchewan, the critical minerals that we see across the country - I think there are tools, and we should be prepared to use all of those tools. Because, frankly, what Donald Trump is doing right now is illegal. It is threatening our economy. He is being a bully, and bullies do not respond to appeasement.
I was horrified to see [Alberta Premier] Danielle Smith, go down to Florida and bend the knee to Donald Trump. That is not the way that Canadians want to see their political leaders acting.
MH: One more quick question, bringing us back to the election.
Angus Reid polling not only puts the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives, your party has gone from 21 per cent support in December to the single digits at 9 per cent.
How worrisome is that as you approach the campaign trail?
HM: We expected there to be a bit of a bump for the Liberals during this leadership race. That’s to be expected. It’s not what I’m hearing on the doors.
In Alberta, I think there is a real chance for us to pick up support. What we’re hearing on the doorsteps is that people are tired of the Liberals. They’re done with the Liberals and they don’t like Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives.
For us, we’ll continue to do the work. Polls are actually not that important. The only poll that matters is the one on election day. We’re going to be continuing to knock on doors.
We’ve got fantastic candidates across the country, really excited about some of our candidates in Edmonton and in Alberta. I’ll be supporting them as the as the election gets called, whenever it gets called.
