The Conservative Party’s renewed opposition to carbon taxes is being celebrated by some outspoken MPs, while some political observers believe the stance will become increasingly popular as the tax ramps up to $170 per tonne in 2030.
During last year’s federal election campaign, then-Tory leader Erin O’ Toole proposed “low-carbon savings accounts” for “greener life” items such as a transit pass or energy-efficient home retrofits, a move interpreted by most to be a carbon tax.
Former Conservative MP Kerry Diotte says O’Toole’s move hurt the Tories in terms of gaining support from potential voters, noting the proposed carbon pricing scheme was just one of several other “egregious policies and issues that turned people off in the 2021 campaign.”
The party’s ditching of the tax was good news to Conservative MP Arnold Viersen, MP for Peace River–Westlock, an hour’s drive north of Edmonton.
“I’m opposed to these schemes coming out of Ottawa. I was happy to support the leader at the time, but I’m generally opposed to things that make life more expensive—for northern Albertans, particularly,” Viersen said in an interview.
“How I got engaged in it all was the fact that for myself and everybody else living in northern Alberta, December was the highest natural gas bill any of us have ever gotten, and about a third of it seems to be the carbon tax for everybody.”
The price for carbon visible on gasoline and home heating bills is only part of the equation. Because it drives up the cost of transportation, it drives up the cost of everything else as well.
“The studies showed before we introduced the carbon tax that it would cause a cascading effect throughout the economy, driving inflation. And one of the tools that government has to reduce inflation would be to remove the carbon tax,” Viersen said.
New Brunswick MP John Williamson told The Epoch Times by email that he opposes the carbon tax.
“I do not support a carbon tax and I know many of my colleagues agree. I’m sure this will be a critical point for debate in the Conservative leadership race,” Williamson wrote.
On Feb. 7, Williamson tweeted his endorsement of leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre, writing, “As Prime Minister, he will cut taxes, fight inflation and restore common-sense in Ottawa. Pierre has my full support.”
Last December, Poilievre called for the Trudeau government to cancel scheduled carbon tax and payroll tax increases to preserve investment capital and encourage development of the oil and gas sector.
Former longtime Liberal MP Dan McTeague, now president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, thinks that although that approach won’t win generous media coverage, it could win an election.
‘Court of Public Opinion Shifting’
High electricity bills helped topple the provincial Liberals in Ontario, McTeague said, and ever-increasing carbon taxes have the same potential. The carbon tax will rise by $10 to $50 a tonne on April 1, and by 2030 will be $170 a tonne. He said a 10-cent-per-litre gas tax bumps the price to $1.81 a litre in Vancouver and $1.73 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and it will be much worse when the tax goes up to 33 cents per litre by 2030.“People are paying attention, and for that reason all the Conservatives have to pray for right now if they stay in this policy is that no one else emulates them that is currently represented in the House. … The Conservatives could pull out a victory on this one issue alone,” said McTeague.
“The court of public opinion is quickly shifting,” he adds.
“There’s political consequences for anyone who continues down this road of believing that Canada can make a difference by imposing significant taxes on Canadians. … Politically, this would make a lot of sense for the Conservatives to say that the cause of affordability is more important and that the ruse needs to be exposed.”
At the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, federal director Franco Terrazzano agrees the carbon tax is hated more than most.
“It’s always among the top issues. And right now, what we’re hearing is it’s either number one for many of our supporters, or it’s number two [behind] the home equity tax,” Terrazzano said in an interview.
“Hammering Canadians with higher gas prices is a big loser right now. We already pay a big tax bill at the pumps, and that tax bill is only going up under the Trudeau government’s carbon tax plans. So I think taxpayers rightly expect the Official Opposition to again find their spine and fight carbon taxes.”
University of Lethbridge political science professor Geoffrey Hale says Jean Charest, who is considering entering the Tory leadership race, would be the only contender who might support a carbon tax, unless MP Michael Chong makes another bid for the job.
“The rebate program has tamped down much of the irritation, but not for those whose work requires a truck or a lot of driving, or independent businesses with limited options for substitution,” Hale told The Epoch Times.
“The [O’Toole] policy was intended as a ‘shield’ against the accusation that the party had no meaningful climate change policy. But if you really cared about climate change, it wouldn’t go far enough to encourage you to vote Conservative.”
Malcolm Bird, a political scientist at the University of Winnipeg, says the Tories should avoid moving to the centre on issues like the carbon tax in an effort to entice voters.
“You don’t want to appease people who’ll never vote for you anyways,” he said.
“The traditional thing, ‘Oh, maybe the Conservatives should move to the centre to try to appeal to the soccer moms and the suburbanites’—they’re never going to vote for you anyway, so don’t bother trying to appease [by] moving to the centre.”
