The federal Liberals are turning on the carbon tax faster than Vin Diesel making a corner in Fast and Furious.
But Canadians need to know who’s in the driver’s seat and where they are going.
Liberal leadership candidates must declare their positions on the carbon tax.
If they say they’ll keep it, they are no different than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
If they say they’d scrap it, they need to prove it by getting rid of it as soon as they are chosen as leader of the party.
The new Liberal leader would have a different last name and they might not wear fancy socks, but if they want to keep punishing Canadians with the carbon tax, they would be the same as Trudeau.
On April 1, the Liberal government is hiking the carbon tax.
After the increase, the carbon tax will cost 21¢ per litre of gasoline and 25¢ per litre of diesel. Filling up a minivan will cost about $15 extra in the carbon tax, while filling a pickup truck will cost about $25 extra.
Truckers who deliver nearly everything in Canada will pay about $250 extra when they fill their big rigs with diesel, with the industry reporting the carbon tax cost it $2 billion last year.
The carbon tax will cost the average household about $400 to heat with natural gas this winter.
Farmers pay the carbon tax to heat their barns and dry grains, with the parliamentary budget officer reporting the carbon tax will cost farmers $1 billion by 2040.
About half of Canadians say they are within $200 of not being able to make the minimum payments on their bills. That means making a minimum payment on a credit card or convincing the power company to keep the lights on by putting some money down on a huge bill or visiting a food bank.
This is known as barely scraping by, and federal politicians who are paid a minimum of $200,000 per year aren’t experiencing this.
Just before the carbon tax hike last year, nearly 70% of Canadians said they opposed it, according to a Leger poll.
This is what Liberal leadership candidates need to answer:
Are they going to keep this carbon tax, or are they going to obliterate it and save struggling Canadians a lot of money?
OR
Are they going to hike the carbon tax on April 1 as they potentially hit the campaign trail?
Imagine door-knocking that first week of the campaign.
“Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Carbon tax hike – can I have your vote?!”
Good luck with that.
Some Liberal candidates are going on the record.
On CTV’s Power Play, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told host Vassy Kapelos he is “committed” to keeping the carbon tax.
On CBC’s The House, former British Columbia premier Christy Clark — who announced Tuesday she will not run for the Liberal leadership — told host Catherine Cullen “we would scrap that (carbon) tax.”
Before Trudeau announced he was planning to resign, expected candidates Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland repeatedly proved themselves big fans of the carbon tax.
But what about now? Has the policy changed?
When American comedian John Stewart asked Carney about the carbon tax, Carney said, “We need to do it in a way that Canadians today are not paying the price.”
What does that mean?
When radio host Ben Mulroney asked his guests if it was time to scrap the carbon tax, MP Anthony Housefather said, “Canadians have been convinced the carbon tax needs to be revised” and MP Yvan Baker said, “We need to revisit all of our policies, including that one.”
After years of carbon tax hikes, many Canadians have trouble trusting promises from politicians.
Liberal leadership candidates who say they are now opposed to the carbon tax must prove it by eliminating it entirely and immediately.
Canadians cannot afford the carbon tax and it must be kicked to the curb and left in the rear-view mirror.
Kris Sims is the Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation