Half of Canadians say the “Just Transition” plan is right for Canada, but think the government will botch it, according to a new poll.
In the Leger poll released on Thursday, 52% of Canadians said steering away from fossil fuels was a good idea, but 56% felt the government would fail to compensate former fossil-fuel workers, and 60% wouldn’t pay an extra tax dollar to help the plan.
The strong majority of respondents (84%) in the poll had no previous knowledge about details of Just Transition. Each respondent submitted their answers after being briefed about Just Transition’s stated goal, as defined by the Government of Canada:
“To prepare the Canadian workforce to participate in a low-carbon economy,” the brief read, “while minimizing the impact this may have on the labour market.
“There will be job losses as some sectors in the economy wind down, such as oil and gas, mining and forestry, but it will have programs to replace lost jobs with jobs in other sectors of the Canadian economy.”
Half of respondents supported the idea, but more had concerns about its implementation.
The majority (59%) said major polluting nations should have to change their systems before the responsibility falls on Canada. An equal number (56%) worried that the federal government will fail to properly re-employ fossil-fuel workers who become displaced by climate interventions.
Many respondents were not interested in financing the Just Transition.
The majority (60%) said they wouldn’t pay any additional taxes to support climate efforts, some (14%) said they would pay as high as a two-percent increase, and less (11%) said they would pay between two percent and greater than five percent bigger taxes in order to reduce carbon emissions.
More than a third (38%) said Canada was moving too slow to decarbonize the economy, and less (22%) said the plan was moving too fast.
