Premier Andrew Furey is coming down hard on federal environment minister Steven Guilbeault for policy decisions which have had a detrimental impact on Newfoundland and Labrador.

The federal government last week relented and put a pause on applying the federal carbon tax on home heating fuel for the next three years, but Premier Furey thinks they can go a lot further.

Furey, who along with his Atlantic Canadian counterparts, has lobbied Ottawa for changes to the carbon tax and clean fuel regulations says the federal minister just doesn’t seem to get it.

“I don’t think he understands rural Newfoundland and Labrador,” says Furey. “Your Parliamentary Budget Officer is telling us that clean fuels is going to have three times the impact for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians than every other Canadian, so what is your response to that? Crickets!”