O’Toole drops vow to get rid of fossil-fuel subsidies

OTTAWA— Conservative leadership candidate Erin O’Toole called subsidies for fossil fuel a “form of corporate welfare” and vowed to end them on Wednesday.

But by Thursday, O’Toole said he had received “a lot of questions” about his commitments to combat climate change, and had removed that promise from his platform.

Instead of ending the subsidies, the Durham MP said he would “simplify the tax code to create confidence in the resource sector” and support the industry’s efforts toward reducing emissions.

In a string of social media posts Thursday night, O’Toole called the reversal a “change” to make his position “clearer.”

“What has not changed is my commitment that with me as leader, our party will present Canadians with a real plan to tackle climate change in the next election,” O’Toole wrote.

“The fact that Canadians did not feel we took this issue seriously enough was a big reason why we lost the last election.”

The clarification did little to satisfy supporters of O’Toole’s leadership rival, Peter MacKay, who took to Twitter with accusations of flip-flopping only a day after the O’Toole camp released its full platform.

When asked for an explanation for the reversal, the O’Toole campaign referred the Star to the candidate’s statement on Thursday.

Melanie Paradis, a spokesperson for the campaign, said its plan is to review the entire tax code with a view to “lowering and simplifying.” It was not immediately clear how that would address climate change.

O’Toole, who has been endorsed by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, has tried to appeal to a broad array of camps within the Conservative movement.

O’Toole’s platform, however, includes almost no mention of social conservative issues, and has drawn criticism in Alberta for devoting more attention to Quebec than to the Prairies.

On Thursday, MacKay’s campaign told the Star that it would not be releasing a comprehensive platform before the leadership debates, which are scheduled for next week.