Canadians have a simple question for anyone who wants to be the next prime minister: Will you scrap the carbon tax?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated he would keep the carbon tax, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been clear he would “axe the tax.”
Liberal Party leadership hopefuls Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould have made their positions known. Now only Mark Carney seems unable to present a clear position on the carbon tax.
“If you are going to take out the carbon tax, we should replace it with something that is at least, if not more, effective,” Carney said at his campaign launch. “Perception may be that it takes out more than the rebate provides, but reality is different.”
Carney is running on his track record as a central banker who has dealt with economic crises. But his response to the most important question on the cost of living — the carbon tax — amounted to little more than a vague notion that he was working on a replacement scheme.
Meanwhile, other Liberal leadership candidates are taking more firm positions.
Here’s what Carney’s main opponent for Liberal leader said on the carbon tax:
“No more consumer-facing carbon tax,” Freeland said on CP24 TV in Toronto. “Where people have a consumer-facing price on carbon they’re saying, ‘You know, we don’t like it,’ and progressive premiers like Wab Kinew are saying the same thing, so we have to listen.”
Freeland hinted that her issue with the carbon tax is that it is “consumer-facing” and visible to people who pay the bills. Is Freeland’s only issue with the carbon tax is that Canadians see the cost every time they go to the gas pumps or pay for their home heating?
Freeland will need to answer that question as well, but at least she was able to provide a coherent answer on the carbon tax, unlike Carney.
Gould, the former Trudeau government house leader, made her position on the carbon tax known as well. Gould said she would keep the carbon tax in place but “cancel the increase to the price on pollution ahead of April 1.”
The carbon tax will cost average families up to $440 extra to heat their homes this year and about $13 extra every time they fill up their minivans. Even after the rebates, the carbon tax still costs average families up to $399, according to the parliamentary budget officer.
Gould seems to think Canadians can afford those carbon tax costs just fine. But at least Gould realizes that hiking the carbon tax on April 1 is a bad idea, especially because that could happen during the first week of an election.
Parliament returns on March 24. The government will immediately face confidence votes.
Opposition parties are promising to bring down the government and trigger an election.
While this is happening, the carbon tax is scheduled to increase to 21 cents per litre of gasoline, 25 cents per litre of diesel and 18 cents per cubic metre of natural gas on April 1.
Does the next Liberal leader want to go door-knocking for votes right after hiking the carbon tax? Gould says no, but she’s promising a half-measure at best.
And here’s the problem for Gould: Canadians don’t want half-measures.
The federal government tried that when it announced a carbon tax exemption for home heating oil to save taxpayers in Atlantic Canada money. How did that work out? Liberals faced a huge backlash over the political move.
Canadians want the carbon tax gone.
All Liberal leadership candidates should push the government to scrap the carbon tax immediately.
Carney needs to understand that anyone who wants to be a credible candidate for prime minister needs a crystal-clear answer to this question: Will you scrap the carbon tax?
Franco Terrazzano is the federal director and Kris Sims is the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation