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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged more than $2 billion in annual carbon tax rebates Tuesday as his Liberal government tried to persuade Canadians that putting a price on pollution is the best way to halt climate change.

Trudeau’s plan to slash Canada’s emissions was scoffed at by critics on both sides of the carbon tax argument. Groups that favour carbon prices argued Canada’s proposed cuts were nowhere near big enough while opponents accusing the government from buying votes to outright lying about whether the rebates will really offset the increased cost to families.

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Trudeau said there is both a “moral and economic imperative to act” to manage climate change, so the next generations of Canadians aren’t left in a world where monster storms and massive droughts burn up or flood out major portions of the planet.

“Will we kick this can down the road yet again to be dealt with in another place or at another time, or will we show some courage and do what needs to be done for this generation and the next?” he said, addressing students at Humber College in Toronto.