We know a tax when we see it

From a public relations perspective, it would seem, the debate is over. Putting a price on carbon dioxide is supposed to be a no-brainer. That’s because one public opinion poll after another says Canadians supposedly want action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

And just about everyone in media, academia and government now says pricing carbon dioxide is the best way to lower Canada’s emissions. Experts have moved on to squabbling over whether to price emissions directly with a tax or indirectly with cap and trade.

But perhaps we should ask, if the public accepts carbon dioxide pricing, why are governments that pursue it under fire? What’s going on in towns and cities across the country?

Earlier this month, The Globe and Mail reported on a Nanos Research poll it commissioned on voter attitudes toward Ottawa’s climate regulations. Nanos found almost two-thirds of Canadians want the Trudeau government to proceed with its climate regulations, including carbon dioxide pricing. An even larger majority, 77 per cent, said it would be wrong for Ottawa to align its environmental policies with the Trump administration should their approaches clash.

Those findings match those of other polls. Nanos reported in September that six in 10 people supported putting a price on carbon dioxide to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Similarly, in December, 58 per cent said Canada should tax carbon dioxide even if the Trump administration doesn’t.

There is counter-evidence, though, that Canadians might not be enamoured with carbon pricing. A February Nanos poll for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) zeroed in on the real price to consumers of Ontario’s emissionspricing policy. Ontario There is counter-evidence that Canadians might not be as enamoured with carbon pricing as previously thought, John Williamson writes residents were asked about their willingness to pay the estimated household cost of Ontario’s cap-and-trade program, which is projected to be about $13 a month in 2017, to fuel a car and heat a home.

Nanos found 51 per cent of respondents opposed and another 10 per cent somewhat opposed to paying just $13 more for energy each questions: concern with a problem and a willingness to pay. The Nanos-CTF research (available at taxpayer.com) concludes that a majority of Ontarians don’t support cap and trade. What’s more, Ontario voters are less likely to support an opposition politician proposing a carbon dioxide tax. Ontario families appear instead to favour affordable