It’s quite a study in contrasts. Right after First Nations’ leaders commenced a court challenge against the beleaguered federal carbon tax, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault thought it a good idea to hop on a plane and burn some GHGs to head to a climate change party in Dubai.
One of these two actions is completely tone deaf and out of step with the daily concerns of regular folks, and I think it’s fair to say anyone who is struggling to make ends meet during this affordability crisis can easily identify which one it is.
On Nov. 30, the Chiefs of Ontario—which represents over 130 First Nations in the province—filed to request a judicial review from the Federal Court over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax.
The chiefs want their communities exempt from the tax, as they say it’s harming their communities and in turn violates principles of reconciliation.
“People feel that their rights are being violated,” says Grand Chief Abram Benedict, representing the Mohawks of Akwesasne.
This is nothing short of a damning indictment of the Trudeau government. It’s a big problem for Trudeau, who at one point made reconciliation with indigenous communities a leading priority for his government, to face such a strong legal challenge from First Nations. It’s not just that they’re saying a Trudeau policy is harming their prosperity, but that the harm is being caused by the prime minister’s cherished carbon tax.
It’s been clear for years that the carbon tax is one of Trudeau’s favourite policies. He is a true believer on the climate file and it seems no collateral damage will dissuade him. The tax is now both a huge political liability and a colossal failure of a policy.
It was one thing when Trudeau was winning court challenges against provincial governments for his right to impose the tax, as happened several years ago when Ontario led the charge against the tax. Back then, we weren’t in an affordability crisis and the public hadn’t yet connected the tax to the rising price of goods.
The carbon tax was a feel-good policy when it first came into effect. Now it doesn’t feel so good anymore.
There is general agreement that the tax, which rises every year, isn’t being offset by rebates anymore. When Trudeau announced a carveout to remove the tax on home heating for Atlantic Canada, that made more people step forward and rightly ask for their own exemptions. It also made people question why, if the tax wasn’t necessary at some locations and on some products, it was necessary at all.
This Chiefs of Ontario court challenge is just the latest injury in the slow but inevitable demise of the carbon tax. And inevitable it is. There’s no way this albatross of a policy will stay given the amount of carnage it’s causing the government.
The government would be wise to back down soon and to do so in a humble way. Yet when it comes to climate issues, Trudeau and Guibeault seem to have little humility.
Shortly after the chiefs filed their challenge, Guilbeault took an emissions-heavy flight to Dubai for this year’s COP28 climate shindig. These are the annual conferences where global enviro elites make pledges about how they’re going to force the little people to live in the name of saving the planet.
Guilbeault is expected to make some sort of announcement on Dec. 4. Whatever the substance of it, it’s going to lean to more spending or regulations around climate, not less.
He could have decided to instead stay home, recognizing that domestic issues required his full attention and that the time for global climate parties has passed. He could have offered to meet with the Chiefs of Ontario and strike a deal.
Trudeau and Guilbeault don’t seem to want to moderate, though. They want to keep up the carbon tax fight for as long as possible, even though everyone knows it’s not going to end in their favour.
