The Liberals, Bloc Quebecois, NDP, and Green parties were unified in opposing Pierre Poilievre’s motion in the House of Commons to halt the planned increases to the federal carbon tax.
While I am sure Poilievre genuinely would have liked to see his motion pass, he was under no illusion it would. I suspect he was pleased with the unity displayed on the part of the rest of the parties on the issue. The Conservative Party of Canada is staking its territory in opposing tax increases and clearly defining where the party stands under Poilievre’s leadership.
With the cost of living on the rise and Canada facing a possible recession, federal leaders must articulate to Canadians how they plan to address these challenges. The Trudeau Liberals are continuing with a tax-borrow-spend approach to the economy, while the CPC proposes to reduce the tax burden on citizens. Poilievre is staying true to the conservative economic principles he campaigned on in pursuing the party leadership. He is consolidating support for the CPC while the rest of the parties overlap with each other in supporting tax increases.
Former CPC leader Erin O’Toole unwittingly sealed his fate shortly after achieving the party leadership when he flip-flopped on a pledge to oppose the federal carbon tax. O’Toole’s embrace of carbon taxes alienated his own support base while failing to pull support from Liberal supporters. His party was unforgiving of the failed tactic and O’Toole was ignominiously punted from the leadership months after the 2021 defeat in the general election. If one must go back on one’s word to win votes in an election, at least it better work.
There can be little doubt that Poilievre is being pressured to take a more moderate fiscal policy approach now that he has won the leadership. There are always voices inside Conservative circles claiming the only way to defeat the Liberals is to try to out-Liberal them. Those voices are invariably wrong and so far, Poilievre wisely appears to be ignoring them.
When conservative parties move left and try to blur the line between themselves and left-leaning parties, voters will tend to go to the traditionally left-leaning option. It just feels too disingenuous when leaders abandon their ideological principles at election time, and voters will select the more honest of the options.
Staying true to conservative economic principles has historically paid off before. Just look to Alberta in the early 1990s. Government spending was out of control. Debt servicing was eating up the provincial budget while taxes rose. The Alberta Liberal Party was leading the polls for the first time in nearly a century, and they were doing it with a fiscally conservative platform. Then Ralph Klein took the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives and changed everything.
Klein campaigned in 1993 with a platform based on austerity and balanced budgets. While pundits and many within the PC party itself decried his unapologetic fiscal conservatism, electors embraced it and gave him a strong majority win. Klein followed through on his promises and made deep spending cuts while keeping taxes down. Public service unions went wild, protests were frequent, and pundits assured us that Klein would pay a heavy price at the polls for daring to balance the budget through spending cuts as promised. In 1997, Albertans rewarded Klein with an even stronger majority government as the PCs gained 11 more seats in the provincial election.
Conservative politicians can win in Canada but it takes guts and a determination to stick to principles in the face of an establishment constantly trying to push them to the left. Poilievre has been feeling the pressure as snide commentators deride his efforts to cut payroll taxes and promote fiscal responsibility. He appears to be determined to ignore them to stay the course so far.
If Poilievre plans to balance the federal budget, he will have to spell out where the spending cuts are going to come. That’s a tougher case to make than calling for tax cuts. No matter where the spending cuts are made, somebody is going to be laid off and somebody will be upset. Poilievre’s opponents will be questioning him hard on this soon and he will have to be able to answer with confidence and clarity. If he tries to obfuscate or dodge, he will be accused of a hidden agenda, and trust in him will waver.
Canadians understand the need for fiscal responsibility. They can see how unsustainable the debt is becoming and know spending must be reined in. If Poilievre can stay steadfast, he and his party will be the only ones standing for a balanced budget. They will have a defined stance and will corner that market among electors. It can be a winning formula. Let’s hope they can hold their ground.
