From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre warned, ‘Carbon Tax Carney is pausing the carbon tax until after the election when he no longer needs your vote but still needs your money.’

Mark Carney, as his first move as Prime Minister of Canada, has dropped the infamous carbon tax.  

Moments after his March 14 swearing in, Prime Minister Carney signed legislation to reduce the consumer carbon tax rate on Canadians to zero, essentially removing it from April 1. 

“This will make a difference to hard-pressed Canadians, but it is part of a much bigger set of measures that this government is taking to ensure that we fight against climate change, that our companies are competitive, and the country moves forward,” Carney told media in the cabinet meeting room. 

“Based on the discussion we’ve had and consistent with a promise that I made, and others supported, during the [Liberal Party] leadership campaign, we will be eliminating the Canada fuel charge, the consumer fuel charge, immediately,” he continued.  

However, it is important to note that Carney did not scrap the carbon tax legislation: he just reduced it to zero. This means it could come back at any time.  

Furthermore, while Carney has dropped the consumer carbon tax, he has previously revealed that he wishes to implement a corporation carbon tax, the effects of which many argued would trickle down to all Canadians.  

First implemented in 2019, the carbon tax was advertised as a way to reduce emissions. However, Liberals have since admitted that the carbon tax has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by only one percent. 

The tax is wildly unpopular and blamed for the rising cost of living throughout Canada. Currently, Canadians living in provinces under the federal carbon pricing scheme pay $80 per tonne.  

Notably, Carney’s decision to drop the unpopular carbon tax comes just weeks before he is expected to call a federal election.  

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre responded to Carney’s move by saying, “Carbon Tax Carney is pausing the carbon tax until after the election when he no longer needs your vote but still needs your money.”  

“He’s flip-flopping on his beliefs to trick Canadians into a 4th Liberal government,” he stated on an X post. “If Carney wins, Canada loses.”  

Indeed, Carney’s decision also appears to be contrary to his own ideology, as he recently argued that the carbon tax was too low. He also rebuked Trudeau for exempting home heating oil from the carbon tax in 2023.  

Furthermore, although Carney has assured Canadians that while he is no longer on the board of the World Economic Forum, he has been a longtime supporter of the globalist agenda, including  the United Nations’ energy regulations. In January 2023, he attended the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos, Switzerland. 

Carney uses his social media to advocate for achieving net-zero energy goals. 

“The net-zero revolution is becoming a driver of country competitiveness, job creation & growth,” he posted on X earlier in November. “In the future, great powers will be green powers — and Canada can be a great power.” 

From the Fraser Institute

By Kenneth P. Green

Mark Carney, our next prime minister, has floated a climate policy plan that he says will be better for Canadians than the “divisive [read: widely hated] consumer carbon tax.”

But in reality, Carney’s plan is an exercise in misdirection. Under his plan, instead of paying the “consumer carbon tax” directly and receiving carbon rebates, Canadians will pay more via higher prices for products that flow from Canada’s “large industrial emitters” who Carney plans to saddle with higher carbon taxes, indirectly imposing the consumer carbon tax by passing those costs onto Canadians.

Carney also wants to shift government subsidies to consumer products of so-called “clean technologies.” As Carney told the National Observer, “We’re introducing changes so that if you decide to insulate your home, install a heat pump, or switch to a fuel-efficient car, those companies will pay you—not the taxpayer, not the government, but those companies.” What Carney does not mention is that much of the costs imposed on “those companies” will also be folded into the costs of the products consumers buy, but the cause of rising prices will be less distinguishable and attributable to government action.

Moreover, Carney says he wants to make Canada a “clean energy superpower” and “expand and modernize our energy infrastructure so that we are less dependent on foreign suppliers, and the United States as a customer.” But this too is absurd. Far from being in any way poised to become a “clean energy superpower,” Canada likely won’t meet its own projected electricity demand by 2050 under existing environmental regulations.

For example, to generate the electricity needed through 2050 solely with solar power, Canada would need to build 840 solar-power generation stations the size of Alberta’s Travers Solar Project, which would take about 1,700 construction-years to accomplish. If we went with wind power to meet future demand, Canada would need to build 574 wind-power installations the size of Quebec’s Seigneurie de Beaupre wind-power station, which would take about 1,150 construction years to accomplish. And if we relied solely on hydropower, we’d need to build 134 hydro-power facilities the size of the Site C power station in British Columbia, which would take 938 construction years to accomplish. Finally, if we relied solely on nuclear power, we’d need to construct 16 new nuclear plants the size of Ontario’s Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, taking “only” 112 construction years to accomplish.

Again, Mark Carney’s climate plan is an exercise in misdirection—a rhetorical sleight of hand to convince Canadians that he’ll lighten the burden on taxpayers and shift away from the Trudeau government’s overzealous climate policies of the past decade. But scratch the surface of the Carney plan and you’ll see climate policies that will hit Canadian consumers harder, with likely higher prices for goods and services. As a federal election looms, Canadians should demand from all candidates—no matter their political stripe—a detailed plan to rekindle Canada’s energy sector and truly lighten the load for Canadians and their families.