There’s this false narrative the Liberals use all the time that because Conservatives don’t support the Carbon Tax, we don’t care about the environment.
It makes for a snappy Liberal retort during Question Period, but not only is it a tired narrative, it’s just plain false.
For example, my team and I spent months supporting local citizens in Flamborough as they banded together to oppose the Carmeuse proposal to build a facility to burn garbage in our riding. Not only did I share their opposition on the basis of health for residents, but also the environmental impact as well.
So, why do Conservatives not support the Carbon Tax?
It’s fairly simple: not only did the Liberals choose to raise it at a time when hard-hit Canadians can least afford another tax increase, but why would we support an initiative that shows no signs of achieving its intended goals?
In fact, the Liberals have failed to meet a single emissions target since introducing the Carbon Tax. Plus, a recent report showed that Canada was 58th of 63 countries in meeting targets.
That’s not something to boast about, which is a big part of our point. Not only are we against senseless, bloated government taxes; we’re against bad policies that don’t work.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer shows the carbon tax will cost the average family between $402 and $847 in 2023, even after the rebates. The Liberals promised it wouldn’t cost Canadians more, but we can already see that promise is broken.
However, the one group who will see more money from all this is, of course, the Liberal government as taxes fill their coffers. That’s why we keep telling them the carbon tax is not an environment plan, it’s a costly tax plan that is especially damaging to families, especially those on a fixed income or in rural Canada. But people still need to heat their homes, drive to work, school or practice, take care of family, get groceries, and much more. All this tax does then is end up punishing you for having to do that.
Conservatives believe we should protect our environment with technology, not taxes. This is what we keep saying again and again, despite the Liberal-NDP coalition claim that our approach is ‘do nothing’. You would think they might start changing their tune since what we’re proposing is the kind of progress-incentivized plan the Americans have announced, where they don’t have a Carbon Tax.
But clearly, they’re not listening to us. That’s why, when we form a majority Conservative government, we will axe the tax.