Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to “axe” the carbon tax, but in the meantime, he says the Liberal government should accept a compromise and pause the planned tax hikes in its fall economic statement.
Mr. Poilievre told reporters on Nov. 17 that his party has three demands as the government is about to provide a budget update next week.
“Until such time as we can have a carbon tax election—that I will win—I propose a compromise: no more hikes,” he said. “Don’t quadruple the tax, Mr. Trudeau. People can’t afford it.”
The Liberal government announced a three-year pause on the carbon tax for heating oil in late October, a move mostly beneficial to Atlantic provinces, but has rejected any more exemptions.
Mr. Poilievre’s second request is that the government balance the budget to help bring down interest rates and inflation.
“We have $900 billion of mortgages set to renew into these higher rates over the next three years. We have an emergency on our hands to bring rates down before those mortgages renew,” he said.
Homeowners who took on mortgages at rates around 2 percent in recent years are currently facing renewal rates above 6 percent, which can represent a monthly increase in payments of over 30 percent.
Mr. Poilievre’s third request is for the adoption of his plan to increase housing supply by incentivizing municipalities to speed up the issuing of building permits with financial rewards and penalties.
The federal government has made multiple announcements in recent weeks pertaining to its Housing Accelerator Fund. The program provides funding to municipalities that change zoning rules to allow for new builds.
The Conservatives have pushed an affordability message in recent months and have established a solid two-digit lead in the polls over the Liberals.
Their claims about the carbon tax and deficits needing to be eliminated to help with inflation and cost-of-living issues have been backed by comments made by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem.
Mr. Macklem has also said that the government’s current fiscal policy is running contrary to the bank’s monetary policy as it seeks to tame inflation with higher interest rates.
“It would be helpful if monetary and fiscal policy was rowing in the same direction,” he said.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has not provided details of the measures to be announced in the fall economic statement, but said it would be focused on affordability.
“We’ve said that the Fall Economic Statement is going to focus on housing, getting more homes built faster, it’s going to focus on the urgent issue of affordability for Canadians, and it’s going to focus on an economic plan that helps Canada to grow and create more great jobs,” she said on Nov. 16.
Ms. Freeland will present the 2023 Fall Economic Statement in the House of Commons on Nov. 21.
