Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's attempt to shore up his plummeting support in Atlantic Canada, by offering selective exemptions to his signature carbon tax, appears to have backfired.
Trudeau drops carbon tax on heating oil, increases rebate for Atlantic Canadians | Western Standard | Christopher Oldcorn:
October 26, 2023 - "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there will be changes to the carbon tax to help people in rural areas and those who use heating oil to heat their homes.... Trudeau made the announcement after the Liberals support in the Atlantic provinces plummeted in recent polls, a traditional stronghold for the Liberals. On Thursday afternoon, Trudeau said people living in rural areas will get a bigger carbon tax rebate. There will be no carbon tax on home heating oil for three years. Also, people who change their heating to use heat pumps will become part of a lucrative rebate program.
"Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau of 'flipping and flopping on the carbon tax' because the Liberals support plummeted in the polls.... The Liberals have taken a major hit in support in Atlantic Canada since the carbon tax started in July for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick because the provincial programs did not meet the federal carbon tax requirements....
"In 2022, the Conservatives asked the government not to include home heating fuels in the carbon tax, but [that] was struck down when most of the Liberal and NDP MPs voted against it."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/trudeau-drops-carbon-tax-on-heating-oil-increases-rebate-for-atlantic-canadians/49748
Poilievre's Carbon Tax Motion Could Put Trudeau's Leadership on the Line | Epoch Times | Cory Morgan:
November 3, 2023 - "Opposition motions in the House of Commons are usually little more than political theatre.... The motion being considered in Parliament next week is different.... The motion put forth by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre ... calls for pausing the application of the carbon tax for all forms of home heating in Canada. From a tactical perspective, the motion is a political masterstroke. No matter which way the motion goes, Trudeau loses.
"The irony of this hopeless political trap is that Trudeau set it himself when he carved out a carbon tax exemption for homes using heating oil. Rather than bolstering his flagging support in Atlantic Canada with the move, Trudeau has created a political catastrophe for himself and his party.
"Since becoming prime minister in 2015, Trudeau has made fighting climate change his top focus. He has framed climate change as an existential threat to the world and created an ever-increasing carbon tax as his tool to reduce Canadian emissions. He has stood firm through political opposition and court battles against the tax, and the tax has become his signature policy.... If indeed the carbon tax is essential in saving the world from climate change, how on earth could Trudeau selectively apply it in good conscience? In suspending the tax for a region where he needs to garner political support, he is saying political expediency is more important than fighting climate change.
"The regionally targeted suspension of the carbon tax did manage to unify some regions and political figures that usually don’t agree on many things. Calls for the suspension of the carbon tax on all forms of home heating have erupted across the country, from B.C.’s NDP government to Alberta’s UCP government to Ontario’s PC government. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and former premier Rachel Notley are typically mortal political enemies but they are united in calling for the suspension of the carbon tax on natural gas heat.... Trudeau must be very concerned with the commitment of federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to support Poilievre’s motion to suspend the carbon tax....
"The rumblings within the Liberal Party are getting louder. Potential Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney recently sounded as if he was going into campaign mode as he questioned the Liberal path on the carbon tax. Liberal-appointed senator and elder statesman Percy Downe was more blunt as he called for Trudeau’s resignation before the next election. There are many Liberal MPs from regions where natural gas heating is common, and their constituents will not be impressed as their heating costs rise due to the carbon tax while other regions get a pass."
How big of an issue is carbon pricing to voters? | Power Play with Todd van der Heyden | CTV News:
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