Canada’s carbon tax is popular, innovative and helps save the planet – but now it faces the axe
Canada’s carbon tax is popular, innovative and helps save the planet – but now it faces the axe
As prime minister Justin Trudeau trails in polls, opposition seek to persuade voters environmental policy is a burden
As prime minister Justin Trudeau trails in polls, opposition seek to persuade voters environmental policy is a burden
Mass hunger and malnutrition. A looming nuclear winter. An existential threat to the Canadian way of life. For months, the country’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has issued dire and increasingly apocalyptic warnings about the future. The culprit? A federal carbon levy meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
In the House of Commons this month, the Tory leader said there was only one way to avoid the devastating crisis: embattled prime minister Justin Trudeau must “call a ‘carbon tax’ election”.
Hailed as a global model of progressive environmental policy, Canada’s carbon tax has reduced emissions and put money in the pockets of Canadians. The levy, endorsed by conservative and progressive economists, has survived multiple federal elections and a supreme court challenge. But this time, a persistent cost-of-living crisis and a pugnacious Conservative leader running on a populist message have thrust the country’s carbon tax once more into the spotlight, calling into question whether it will survive another national vote.
Justin Trudeau could cure cancer 6 days in a row and our pseudo-aristocracy would claim he was lazy on the 7th; or probably the cause to begin with.
Polievre - if he's still the leader of the "no tax no benefits" American party this week - has no platform other than "Trudeau sucks" and the truck-nut Flatlanders just nod their head.
Sadly, they could take the election, and our hopes for decent hospital care go from "soon" to "never, plebe". Fucking Texans.
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It's not popular.
It’s not popular amongst those with f*ck trudeau bumper stickers on their jacked up, under-utilized vanity trucks.
But nothing tied to his name is popular with them.
Canada-wide, it's at -8 in terms of favorability.
Even if you attribute that to ignorance of how it works or even flat out hatred of Trudeau, it still isn't popular. That is the political reality. It is GENERALLY unpopular.
Considering Trudeaus favorability ratings are currently like, -30, it's actually significantly more popular than Trudeau himself, which makes me skeptical that the driving force really is just a dislike of Trudeau
It's popular with me, like most people I get back more than I put in.
In conservative media, sure.
Look at some polling numbers on the issue.
A plurality of Canadians don't support it.
Though, given that most don't realize they are receiving the benefits from it, this seems more a messaging issue than a policy one.
But this is kind of the issue. Any environmental legislation is going to have to battle through conservative disinformation. The alternative is the conservative's plan which seems to "screw it, that's somebody else's problem. Specifically, the next generation's."
I think the problem is that it’s targeting residents, which is how you know the policy was drafted by anti-environmental proponents, regardless of what anyone says. Carbon taxes need to target companies, not residents. Companies and industries are the main producers of carbon emissions, the output of residents pales in comparison.
I think you hit the nail on the head. More and more I think this is exactly the problem. Carbon taxes especially become a problem when the individual has no good alternatives to switch to. One obvious example is commuting by car and public transit. People should feel encouraged to switch to public transit by the policy. Except public transit is so inadequate in most of Canada that it's simply not a realistic option for many if not most. If you're an individual in that situation, you'd feel the carbon tax is just punishing you with no action you can take to make it stop. The only lever left to them is the democratic lever and they're gonna pull it to make it stop. I think you're right that the focus of the carbon tax should be on industry alone. Companies are much more likely to have ability to do something about their carbon output as well as to be able to act rationally on price signals. In order to address individual-level emissions, other policies should be employed. Create alternative first, then make them irresistible. Build massive public transit then make it cheap to use, procure large supply of heat pumps then subsidise exchanging gas furnaces for them.
Oh and when economists call it the most efficient way to curb climate change, they are talking specifically about economic efficiency. Its political externalities aren't factored in even if they are large enough to kill the policy itself.
it’s not popular
The downvotes you’re getting disprove your assertion.
I wish they represented the general Canadian population. 😄
Popularity has little bearing on merit.
But it does have bearing on the title.
It's not popular with people who don't like money