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OTTAWA \u2014 The three frontrunners in the Liberal leadership race have all backed away \u2014 to one degree or another \u2014 from the Liberal government\u2019s keystone climate policy in a bid to take a major Conservative line of attack off the table.<\/p>\n
The Liberals first campaigned on a carbon price in 2008 and moved to make it happen following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s election win in 2015.<\/p>\n
It was first implemented in 2019 and is a critical piece of the federal climate plan. It also has been a political football and a favourite target of Conservative attacks.<\/p>\n
Liberal leadership candidates Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Mark Carney have all cooled on consumer carbon pricing in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Freeland, who launched her campaign Jan. 19, is indicating she will abandon consumer carbon pricing altogether, acknowledging that Canadians don\u2019t want it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what the people are saying to us, and democracy is about listening to people,\u201d Freeland said on CP24\u2019s Breakfast, indicating she still supports industrial carbon pricing.<\/p>\n
An analysis published in March 2024 by the Canadian Climate Institute found Canada\u2019s carbon price could slash greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100 million tonnes a year by 2030, but only about one-fifth of that would come from the consumer carbon price.<\/p>\n
Most of that reduction would come from putting a price on emissions from big industry, including oil and gas.<\/p>\n
Freeland has defended the government\u2019s carbon policy for years. Through 2021 and 2022, the former deputy prime minister rose several times in the House of Commons to defend the policy, saying at one point the price on pollution is \u201cby far the most economically effective way to achieve climate action.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my view there\u2019s only one reason why any current Liberal would start distancing themselves from the carbon price, and that is that the opposition is making headway in fighting against the carbon tax,\u201d said Chris Ragan, the founding director of McGill University\u2019s Max Bell School of Public Policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd for some reason, it seems to me they\u2019re probably doing it because they think it\u2019s going to help their leadership prospects, or their subsequent election prospects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has pitched the upcoming election as almost a referendum on carbon pricing and the Conservative Party has launched ads attacking Liberal leadership contenders for defending the policy. Freeland\u2019s campaign pushed back against that narrative.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrew\u2019s mad he\u2019s now stuck with boxes of \u2018axe the tax\u2019 election merch,\u201d Freeland\u2019s camp posted on X, in response to a post by Conservative MP Andrew Scheer highlighting Freeland\u2019s previous defence of carbon pricing.<\/p>\n
Ragan said that while nothing fundamental has changed in how carbon pricing works, its political narrative has turned Canadians off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is actually a pretty well-designed policy. I think it was a reasonably well-implemented policy. I do agree it was a terribly-communicated policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it very difficult to believe that they now, for some reason, believe that the carbon price is not a good policy. It seems to me it\u2019s kind of an act of, frankly, political desperation to start thinking about abandoning or softening their support for a carbon price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karina Gould, who also launched her Liberal leadership campaign on Jan. 19, pledged to freeze the carbon price but not to abolish it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to immediately cancel the increase to the price on pollution ahead of April 1,\u201d she said, adding that the Liberal party needs to make electric vehicles and efficient home heating more affordable.<\/p>\n
Just five months ago, Gould told the House of Commons climate change poses an \u201cexistential threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means we have to have a comprehensive plan when it comes to the price on pollution, the work to do with industry partners and investments in clean technology,\u201d she said in September.<\/p>\n
Gould defended the policy just a month ago by citing studies indicating the carbon tax wasn\u2019t responsible for increases in food prices.<\/p>\n
Carney has been less clear about his plans for both consumer and industrial carbon pricing.<\/p>\n
In 2021, while attending the annual UN climate talks taking place that year in Scotland, Carney participated in a panel with Trudeau discussing the need for more countries to price carbon as an way to drive down emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone should try and have a price on carbon,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
Last May, after he\u2019d started planning his leadership run, Carney said the carbon price in Canada had \u201cserved its purpose until now\u201d but opened the door to alternatives, as long as they cut equivalent amounts of emissions.<\/p>\n
During his leadership launch in Edmonton on Jan. 16, Carney reiterated his argument that if the carbon price is going to go, it has to be replaced \u201cwith something that is at least, if not more, effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause perception may be that it takes out more than the rebate provides, but reality is different,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd Canadians will miss that money, so you need a comprehensive approach, you need a comprehensive plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney was referring to the carbon rebates. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has said the rebates exceed the direct cost of the carbon price for most Canadians.<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n