As the range of possible candidates for the Liberal party’s leadership narrows, an increasing number of contestants are voicing their opposition to the current carbon tax scheme.
Despite the fact that the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made the carbon tax a pillar of their government’s agenda to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, MPs, cabinet ministers, and close confidants of Trudeau’s are running against his carbon pricing plan.
Here is what we know about the Liberal leadership candidates and where they stand on the carbon tax.
Chrystia Freeland
Former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland told Liberal members that she would scrap the consumer carbon tax as prime minister, arguing that the policy’s unpopularity outweighs its effectiveness at reducing carbon emissions.
“It is also the case that we need to get better at listening to Canadians and at listening to what Canadians are telling us,” said Freeland at her campaign’s opening rally.
“And we have heard very clearly from Canadians in provinces where there is a consumer-facing price on carbon that they don’t like it. That’s something that we have to listen to. Democracy means that when somebody tells you something that you have to listen, and I will say, our party hasn’t been good enough at that.”
Freeland’s opposition to the carbon tax comes despite her role in greenlighting multiple increases to the carbon tax and routinely defending the policy as what’s best for Canada during her time as Trudeau’s finance minister.
“I am really proud to be a member of a government that has made climate action a priority. Ours is the only major party that continues to advocate for a price on pollution, the most economically rational way to fight climate change,” said Freeland in the House of Commons this past fall.
Karina Gould
Government House leader Karina Gould said she would keep the carbon tax to help fight climate change, but will halt the annual increases to ameliorate affordability concerns.
“What I am proposing is that we need to immediately cancel the increase to the price on pollution ahead of April 1st,” said Gould at her campaign launch event.
“We need to bring in measures that are going to help Canadians make the decisions that they want to make because Canadians are actually making those decisions already. They’re already looking for ways to reduce their emissions, but sometimes it’s too expensive.”
Gould has also voiced her emphatic support for the carbon tax as a minister in the Trudeau government, arguing that the carbon tax helps to put more money in the pockets of everyday Canadians, not less.
“When they (the Conservative party) talk about the price on pollution, they conveniently omit that Canadian families get more money back than they put in. The Conservatives want to put their hands in the pockets of Canadians and take that money away,” said Gould in a fall debate in the House.
Mark Carney
Former central banker Mark Carney has not been nearly as clear regarding his stance on the carbon tax compared to the other candidates.
According to reporting from the Toronto Star, Carney campaign officials have said the former Bank of Canada governor has been telling Liberal MPs in private that he would scrap the consumer carbon tax to focus on industrial emitters.
However, at Carney’s campaign launch event, Carney did not say that he would definitively repeal the carbon tax if elected prime minister, only pledging to replace it with a policy more effective at reducing carbon emissions than the current system.
“I’ve said for a long time that if you were going to take out the carbon tax, you should replace it with something that is at least, if not, more effective,” said Carney.
“And by effective it’s not just having the same impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but it’s making our companies more competitive, it’s creating jobs, it’s ensuring that Canadian households are made whole in terms of their finances.”
Carney promised to roll out an alternative plan to the carbon tax in the coming weeks.
In years past, Carney has been an enthusiastic supporter of carbon taxes, touting the policy at global conferences while condemning the Trudeau government for giving exemptions to the tax.
“Everyone should try to have a price on carbon,” said Carney in a BBC interview at COP26.
Chandra Arya
One of the race’s most unfamiliar faces has taken the hardest lines against the carbon tax within the Liberal party.
Ontario MP Chandra Arya has pledged to repeal the carbon tax, calling on scientists, engineers, and industry professionals to take the lead in fighting climate change.
“Scientists, engineers, and industry professionals will lead the way in crafting fact-based policies to grow our economy and tackle climate change effectively. Activist-driven policies, like the consumer carbon pricing mechanism, will be let go,” reads Arya’s platform.
Arya has not specified whether or not he would scrap the consumer carbon tax or the tax on both industry and consumers.
Frank Baylis
Former Liberal MP Frank Baylis was the first candidate to enter the Liberal leadership race, but has not clarified his position on the carbon tax.
In an interview with CTV News, Baylis said that eliminating the carbon tax will not solve Canada’s affordability crisis and that the party ought to look at restoring Canadian labour productivity.
“What Mr. Poilievre is doing is calling this thing ‘axe the tax’ as if this is going to solve the affordability issue for Canadians. It’s not. It’s not the problem,” said Baylis.
“The problem is that we’ve lost our productivity. We’ve lost our good jobs. We need to get our Canadian dollar up.”
The Liberal party’s leadership race is set to conclude on Mar. 9.
