Over Half of Canadians Say Federal Carbon Tax Ineffective on Climate Change: Poll

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault rises during question period in the House of Commons on April 4, 2022. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Over half of Canadians, 53 percent, say the federal carbon tax is ineffective at combating climate change, according to a new poll by Nanos Research, with most also saying now is a bad time to increase the tax.

The poll, commissioned by CTV News and released Aug. 6, reported that two-thirds (67 percent) of Canadians said it was either “poor timing” (21 percent), or “very poor timing” (46 percent) to increase the carbon tax.

The sentiment was highest in the Prairie provinces, with 79 percent of respondents saying it’s not a good time to increase the tax. In the Atlantic region, 73 percent of those surveyed agreed the timing is “poor” or “very poor,” while in Quebec 53 percent of those polled agreed the timing is wrong.

Canadians have been paying a federal carbon tax nationwide since 2019, when it started at $20 per tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions. Since then, the Trudeau Liberal government has ratcheted up the price, with the most recent increase on April 1 taking the cost to $65 per tonne. It will continue to go up by $15 per year, until hitting the stated government ceiling at $170 per tonne.

The Nanos research—which randomly surveyed 1,081 adult Canadians between July 30 and Aug. 2—suggests that Canadians don’t think the carbon tax is helping to curb fuel consumption.

In 2019, 36 percent of Canadians responded to a survey saying that higher gas prices from a carbon tax weren’t an effective way to reduce fuel consumption. According to the new poll, almost half, 45 percent, are of this view.

In the latest poll, only 9 percent of Canadians agree that carbon taxes are an effective way to reduce fuel consumption, while 23 percent believe they are “somewhat effective.” This is down significantly from 2019, when 16 percent of those polled said carbon taxes were “effective” at reducing fuel use and 26 percent said they were “somewhat effective.”

About a third, or roughly 33 percent, of survey participants in Ontario said the tax is “effective” or “somewhat effective,” and a similar percentage of B.C. respondents said the tax could be helpful in encouraging less use of fuel. In contrast, 65 percent of Ontario respondents and 63 percent of B.C. respondents said they believe a carbon tax is not an effective way to encourage people to use less fuel.

‘Listen to Canadians’

MP Melissa Lantsman, deputy leader of the Conservative Party, commented on the survey on Aug. 6, stating, “By 2030 Carbon Tax 1 will cost Canadians 37 cents a litre, Carbon Tax 2 will cost Canadians 17 cents a litre and that’s before adding sales taxes on top.”

“New survey reveals what Canadians think of carbon pricing,” she wrote on social media. “Listen to Canadians.”

Ottawa’s Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) came into effect on July 1, hiking the cost of gasoline and diesel and resulting in six provinces joining forces to oppose the new policy.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s department has estimated that the CFR, when fully implemented in 2030, will increase the price of gasoline by up to 17 cents per litre and diesel 16 cents per litre.

On top of the federal carbon tax, which will add between 37 cents and 40 cents to a litre of gas by 2030 based on various estimates, this means consumers could end up paying close to 60 cents more per litre by 2030.

Mr. Guilbeault’s department argues that the latest tax will help to remove up to 26 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2030, which is equivalent to removing about two weeks of GHG emissions from the Canadian economy.

In a statement defending the CFR, Mr. Guilbeault said the regulation is “designed to spur innovations of clean technologies and expand the use of less polluting fuels throughout the economy.”