From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

By Franco Terrazzano 

Carney stumbles out the gate on carbon taxes

Prime minister hopeful Mark Carney is supposed to be the economic messiah sent to save the Liberals from the depths of polling purgatory.

But right out the gate, Carney showed he doesn’t have an answer to the most important question:

Will he keep the carbon tax?

Carney should have seen that question coming. His campaign leaked to the media that he would scrap the carbon tax. But when reporters asked him that question at his campaign kickoff in Edmonton, he went wonky and wobbly.

It should have been a yes or no answer. Instead, Carney served up an unappetizing word salad.

“If you are going to take out the carbon tax, we should replace it with something that is at least, if not more, effective,” Carney said. “Perception may be that it takes out more than the rebate provides, but reality is different, and Canadians will miss that money.”

Carney’s stance on the carbon tax is clear as mud and it’s bad for two key reasons.

First: he’d replace the carbon tax with something more “effective.”

The carbon tax has been very effective at sucking a lot of money out of the wallets of Canadians. And the carbon tax has been ineffective at hitting the government’s own emissions targets.

The carbon tax is an expensive failure.

Second: Carney parrots the insulting Trudeau government narrative that the carbon tax is all a “perception” problem.

The message is Canadians are too stupid to appreciate the genius of the carbon tax, and if the government could change the perception of the masses, the carbon tax would be just fine.

Worse for Carney, his answer was an assault on his own brand.

Carney’s the guy who is supposed to have his homework done. Instead, he shrugged at the obvious question, saying he’d release a “comprehensive” plan later.

In other words: just trust him.

But here’s the thing: Carney should have had an answer yesterday and taxpayers have trust issues.

When the Liberals won the 2015 election, their platform was sparse on details about their future signature policy. The carbon tax was buried on page 39 of their platform as “a price on carbon.”

The Liberal government imposed a carbon tax in 2019 misleading Canadians, saying the tax would stop at 11 cents per litre of gasoline in 2022.

“The commitment was to go up to 2022,” then environment minister Catherine McKenna said, shortly before the 2019 federal election. “There was no intention to go up beyond that, there’s no secret agenda.”

After the election, the Trudeau government announced it would keep cranking up the carbon tax every year until it cost 37 cents per litre in 2030. Filling up a minivan at that rate would cost nearly $30 extra in just the carbon tax.

The current Liberal government still won’t rule out future carbon tax hikes.

The government also claims most families get more back in rebates than they pay in the carbon tax, despite the Parliamentary Budget Officer issuing three reports confirming the carbon tax costs Canadians.

The carbon tax will cost the average family up to $399 this year, even with the rebates factored in, according to the PBO.

Liberal leadership hopefuls who want to earn trust with taxpayers must push the Trudeau cabinet to scrap the carbon tax immediately.

The next Liberal leader faces a daunting timeline.

When Parliament comes back on March 24, there will be a throne speech, then likely a flurry of confidence motions. This could bring down the government and trigger an election.

On April 1, the government is set to hike the carbon tax.

Does Carney want to hike the carbon tax during the first week of his election campaign?

If Carney is as savvy as we’ve been told, then his answer should be a loud “no.”

To prove to Canadians he’s opposed to the carbon tax, Carney must call on the Trudeau cabinet to scrap it right now.