Singh Refuses to Say Whether NDP Government Would Keep Carbon Tax

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh listens to a question during an availability on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 19, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has refused to say whether an NDP government would keep the carbon tax and its scheduled increases in place.

“So far what we said is that our position hasn’t changed, but we are saying that the Liberals’ plan is unfair,” Mr. Singh told reporters during an April 22 press conference.

The federal carbon tax increased to $80 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions from $65 on April 1 and is set to rise to $170 by 2030. Mr. Singh has indicated his party will put forth its own plan on capping emissions, but has refused to say whether it would keep the Liberals’ carbon tax.

Mr. Singh said he took issue with the Liberal government wanting to give “billions of dollars to oil and gas companies” that are already “making record profits,” while not giving enough money to Canadians.

“Why does that make any sense, to continue to give them billions of dollars and then say to working people, ‘We don’t have any money for you to support you in trying to put in place a thermal pump or a heat pump in your home?’ That’s unfair,” Mr. Singh said.

“What we’ve said, our plan that we will put forward is one that is fair for working people, takes on the big polluters, and lowers our emissions.”

Alternatively, he said, the Conservative plan is to let oil and gas companies pollute “as much as they want.” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has repeatedly vowed to scrap the federal carbon tax.

Mr. Singh reiterated that the Liberal plan is also “unfair” to Canadians concerned with affordability. “I support a price on pollution, but I do not support the Liberals’ approach which is unfair, which pits everyday Canadians on one side, and big oil and gas companies on the other,” he said.

Changing Stance on Carbon Tax

Questions have been raised in recent weeks about whether the NDP has changed its stance on the federal carbon tax. While the party campaigned on a carbon tax during the 2019 election, it voted on April 1 in favour of a Conservative motion calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hold a carbon tax summit with the premiers. Several premiers have written letters to Mr. Trudeau asking him to meet with them to discuss the 23 percent increase in the tax.

Then on April 11, Mr. Singh said he was more supportive of an industrial price on carbon than climate policies that are “letting working families bear the cost of climate change while big polluters make bigger and bigger profits.”

Mr. Trudeau on April 12 said he didn’t understand why the NDP was “pulling back” support for the carbon price and “from the fight against climate change.” Mr. Singh later said his party’s position on the tax “is not changed” and that its voting record made clear that “we absolutely support a price on pollution.”

The NDP has been in a supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals since March 2022, keeping the Trudeau government in power until Parliament rises in June 2025 in exchange for delivering on NDP priorities like pharmacare and dental care.