Singh says he is open to more carbon tax exemptions for N.W.T.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says that, if elected, his party is "open to a different approach" to the carbon tax for the Northwest Territories as compared to provinces.

Singh spoke to reporters in Yellowknife about the carbon tax on Thursday, after a meeting with N.W.T. Premier R.J. Simpson. Simpson has previously called for a blanket carbon-tax exemption for the Northwest Territories. 

While Singh didn't go as far as expressing his support for a blanket exemption, he said he would like to see different approaches to emissions reduction for different jurisdictions in the country.

"I'm very open to a different approach being taken in the territory, an approach that fits," Singh told reporters. 

"While we still ultimately bring down our emissions, we have to find ways that we do that that recognizes the uniqueness of each place...the differences of different territories and provinces."

Singh said that if his party is elected, he would ensure that any changes to carbon tax in the territory would be targeted to individuals, not corporations.

That's an idea the N.W.T. premier still supports.

"If higher costs were what was going to move us to green energy, then we would have been the first ones adopting green energy, but the situation in the North is different. The cost of living is already so high, there's not a lot of alternatives to the fossil fuels we are using," Simpson told reporters.

"What we are looking for is some recognition that we are different." 

The meeting with Simpson on Thursday was Singh's last official stop on a three-day trip to Yellowknife that also included a news conference outside the uptown Independent grocery store in Yellowknife on Tuesday, and a meeting with the Dene Nation and a public town hall on Wednesday. 

Simpson told reporters that his meeting with Singh focused on the need for more federal funding for upcoming major infrastructure projects in the N.W.T. such as the Mackenzie Valley highway and the Taltson hydro project.

Another main topic of conversation was the impact of climate change in the territory, Simpson said.

For his part, Singh said his main takeaways from the meeting were related to the need for better health care and more affordable housing options in the N.W.T.