The conservative party of the Canadian opposition party dropped its opposition to carbon prices on Thursday and adopted the emissions and fuel allowance as part of its own climate plan, a move it could run counter to some of its staunchest supporters.
Climate change has turned out to be a thorny issue for the Conservative Party led by Erin O’Toole. Most Conservative delegates voted last month in a policy convention against recognizing climate change as a real threat.
“We will scrap (Liberal Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax on working Canadians,” O’Toole said at that convention, but noted that the party “fought two elections against a carbon tax and lost.”
O’Toole said his own plan was better than the Liberal plan. Carbon pricing imposes fees for the use of carbon-based fuels such as oil, either through emissions charges or by increasing the price of gasoline and other fuels.
Trudeau’s national carbon price will reach C $ 170 per ton by 2030, although 90% will be reimbursed to Canadian taxpayers through rebates. The conservatives would limit prices to C $ 50 per ton for taxpayers, who would deposit the levy into a government savings account and use the money to make “green” purchases such as bicycles.
A number of provinces – including the energy heartland and the bastion of the Conservative Party of Alberta – are against carbon pricing and have challenged the government’s plan in the Supreme Court. Last month, the court confirmed Trudeau’s plan. read more
“Any new climate plan … must minimize costs to Albertans and our industries exposed to trade, while continuing to responsibly reduce Alberta’s emissions,” said Jason Nixon, Alberta’s Secretary of the Environment.
O’Toole said a conservative government would fulfill Canada’s international pledge to cut emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, and match the greenhouse gas reductions promised in the liberal climate plan.
“It’s outrageous that O’Toole now plans to hammer Canadians with higher fuel bills with his own carbon tax,” said Franco Terrazzano, Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Many liberal insiders expect Trudeau to aim for elections later this year. Trudeau’s liberals lead O’Toole’s conservatives 37% to 29%, according to an Abacus Data poll published Thursday.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Principles of Trust.