One of the main topics of discussion in Canada at the water cooler and around the kitchen table is the rising cost of groceries. Canadians are making their voices heard loud and clear on this topic. Politicians should be well aware by now that their constituents are having a tough time making ends meet.
Yet for over six months the federal Liberal government has been dragging its feet on implementing an effective way to bring down the price of many basic goods: taking the carbon tax off farms.
Despite getting the nod from parliamentarians, the bill didn’t make its way for a vote in the Senate until recently. While the delay is regrettable, the timing is impeccable in other ways.
The carbon tax is now politically weaker than it’s ever been. That’s because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a recent carve-out for the carbon tax’s application on home heating.
This created calls for other carve-outs and also reintroduced Bill C-234 into the public discussion. When you factor in how regular folks’ ability to pay the bills has only worsened since March, there is an added urgency to get this legislation through.
Farmers, industry groups, consumers, and opposition politicians are done with the hold-up. They want action now. Letter-writing campaigns have begun. Senators are facing a public pressure campaign as people flood them with letters and emails urging the swift passage of C-234.
The Liberal government is being stubbornly defiant in response. Trudeau is likely still licking his wounds from having to back down on one aspect of the carbon tax already.
The carbon tax is clearly one of the hallmarks of Trudeau’s vision for the Canadian economy and environment. I have long said that we don’t have a prime minister who happens to take an interest in climate activism, we have a climate activist who just happens to be prime minister.
Trudeau is a true believer when it comes to the need for ever-increasing climate-related regulations, so it’s no surprise that it is hard to move him away from it even when the evidence compels it.
“There will absolutely not be any other carve-outs or suspensions of the price on pollution,” he declared in late October.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, another true believer, stated in early November that “as long as I’m the environment minister, there will be no more exemptions to carbon pricing.”
Good luck with that. If the Liberals are earnest in their commitments to an independent Senate, they will leave the senators they appointed alone to come to their own conclusions. And the upper chamber could very well agree that now is not the time to jack up the price of food in the name of fighting climate change.
Basic food items are already tax-exempt at grocery stores. This is based in part on the moral principle that the government shouldn’t be making basic necessities less affordable. We would be wise to extend the same logic to all of the inputs that go into farming.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a press conference on the issue on Nov. 13, standing in front of a podium with the words “Axe the Tax” emblazoned on it.
“My message to Canadians is: Call your Liberal MP, tell them to get Justin Trudeau out of the way,” Poilievre said. He knows that now is the time to strike.
Politics aside, further scaling back the carbon tax is just smart, evidence-based policy at this point. It will help cool the price of groceries. Who can argue with that?
