British Columbia Premier David Eby described a letter addressed to him by the leader of the federal Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, in which he asked for help to stop the federal carbon price increase as a ’’nonsense factory’’ election campaign tactic, and he rejected his request.

The letter was sent by Poilievre, whose party forms the official opposition in the House of Commons, yesterday, in which he asked Eby to join the premiers of seven other provinces in opposing the federal carbon tax increase that will take effect on April 1.

Poilievre argued that the 23% increase would raise the price of a liter of car fuel by 18 cents, and that the people of British Columbia, like all Canadians, cannot afford such increases.

’’I am writing to you asking you not to implement the tax increase (on carbon) on April 1,‘‘ read Poilievre's letter to the premier of the left-leaning New Democratic Party in British Columbia.

’’Join the seven other premiers who are asking (Federal Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau to stop the increase,‘‘ Poilievre added in his one-page letter.

He said in his letter that the carbon pricing system established by Trudeau’s Liberal government in Ottawa is an imposition on the provinces requiring them to accept an ever-increasing tax.

However, Eby, who was speaking at an unrelated press conference in Terrace, western British Columbia, said that his province’s residents would get less money back if his government accepted Poilievre’s request.

’’I do not live in Pierre Poilievre’s campaign office and nonsense factory,‘‘ said Eby, ’’I live in British Columbia, and I am its premier, and decisions have consequences. The truth we face is that if we follow Mr. Poilievre’s proposal, the money returned to British Columbia residents after April 1 will be less than if the federal government implements this increase directly.‘‘

British Columbia, located on the Pacific Coast, the third most populous province in Canada (5.58 million people), was the first province or state in North America to widely impose a carbon tax, back in 2008. Its government will manage the upcoming increase on behalf of the federal government.

Poilievre’s letter stated that people in British Columbia and across Canada need tax relief, not increases.

’’It will make no difference to hard-working British Columbians whether this party or that one manages the tax; they will pay it anyway,‘‘ Poilievre added in his letter.

It is noted that the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador have asked the federal government to cancel the increase scheduled for April 1.