Ontario Liberal Party says no to provincial carbon tax

The Progressive Conservatives are trying to portray new Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie as the “carbon tax queen.”

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In a video on the social network helping them save energy.

• Camille Gris Roy (View profile)Camille Gris Roy

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The leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario promises it will not impose a carbon tax if its party wins the next general election. Bonnie Crombie is thus taking a stand, while the Ford government has been trying for months to associate it with the federal carbon tax, which it ardently denounces.

By press release and in a video broadcast on social media on Monday, Bonnie Crombie announced the creation of a group of experts which will prepare a climate action plan for the 2026 election. Made up of six members , this committee is chaired by MP Mary-Margaret McMahon, Liberal environment spokesperson.

The party promises to consult Ontario families, scientists and environmentalists, but the leader already has a clear idea of ​​what will not be included in her plan. We'll make sure major polluters pay, but we won't impose an Ontario carbon tax on consumers, says Bonnie Crombie.

Instead, I want strong actions to expand public transit systems, invest in electric vehicle infrastructure, reform land use rules to build livable, walkable communities, protect our water, our sensitive lands and our nature, she continues.

For Progressive Conservatives, Bonnie Crombie remains the queen of the carbon tax. This is how they describe her in a series of partisan advertisements and in their interventions in the House, associating her with Justin Trudeau's Liberals and maintaining that she promoted this measure when she was an MP in Ottawa.

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Federal MPs pay tribute to Brian Mulroney

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Federal MPs pay tribute to Brian Mulroney

ELSEWHERE ON INFO: Federal MPs pay tribute to Brian Mulroney

The Liberal leader may refuse any provincial carbon tax, but she does not clearly condemn the federal tax, Energy Minister Todd Smith repeated on Monday.

I think it would be very, very significant if Bonnie Crombie, the Ontario Liberal leader, joined with the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, and even some Liberal and NDP voices across the country to say no. To ask Justin Trudeau for a break on the federal carbon tax. This is not the time to increase taxes, he says.

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Ministers Peter Bethlenfalvy and Todd Smith continue to ask Bonnie Crombie to clarify her position on the federal carbon tax.

The Ontario government has made it its hobby horse: the subject of carbon pricing is monopolizing discussions at Queen's Park these days. Other Canadian prime ministers have asked Ottawa to at least suspend the increase planned for April 1.

Liberal MP John Fraser recalls that it is the Ford administration which took Ontario out of the common carbon market with Quebec and California after taking power in 2018, which led the federal government to impose its tax on Ontarians. We wouldn't be having these kinds of conversations today if we had kept the cap and trade system, he says.

This government has no ambition when it comes to climate change. What is important now is to have an Ontario plan, proclaims John Fraser, defending his leader, and adding that we must also find ways to help families in the face of inflation.

Responsibility should not fall on individuals, but on polluters, the NDP leader also believes. Marit Stiles believes, however, that speeches on this subject are a convenient political excuse for the Ford government, which is not tackling the cost of living in any other way. Writing letters to the Prime Minister of Canada will not solve the climate crisis or the cost of living crisis. I would rather see this government spend most of its time tackling the cost of, for example, rent.

To compensate for the carbon tax, Ottawa gives money to families and thus allows many of them to save, recalls for his part the leader of the Green Party Mike Schreiner, referring to the Rebate program Canadian Carbon Policy (New window), formerly called the climate action incentive.

The federal government may not have done a good job communication campaign on this subject, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work.

• Camille Gris Roy (View profile)Camille Gris RoyFollow