SUPPORT FOR CARBON TAX RISES ON PROMISE OF REBATE.
Many still believe it’s a cash grab
OTTAWA • Canadians have warmed up slightly to the Liberal government’s carbon tax plan after it announced a massive rebate scheme in October, a new poll from Angus Reid says. Support for the carbon tax has risen from 45 per cent in July to 54 per cent in mid-October, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that 90 per cent of the revenues would be returned to voters. That is close to the 56 per cent the tax enjoyed in mid-2015, when it was at peak popularity.
Although there has been talk of “rebate cheques,” the rebates won’t be actual cheques or direct deposits into bank accounts, but a credit applied when Canadians file their taxes each year.
According to Angus Reid, the main objection from people who don’t support the plan is the belief, held by two-thirds of dissenters, that it amounts to a “tax grab.” Thirty-six per cent say they have concerns about its effectiveness at fighting climate change and only six per cent of respondents say their opposition came from doubts about human-caused climate change. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and Ontario Premier Doug Ford got together this week to emphasize their shared belief that the carbon tax is a job-killing cash grab. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded by saying the two conservative leaders want to “make pollution free again.” The Ontario government passed legislation Wednesday to repeal the province’s cap-and-trade system, killing a program Ford has long promised to scrap. Only half of Ontarians now believe the provincial government should have the final say on carbon policy rather than the federal government, compared to 64 per cent three months ago. The federal carbon tax is a backstop policy, designed to come into effect only if provinces don’t implement an emissions-reduction scheme approved by the federal government. So far, only residents of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick will be affected by the federal plan. Alberta Opposition leader Jason Kenney has vowed to repeal Alberta’s carbon tax and fight the federal plan in court along with the other dissenting provinces, if he is elected next year.
The Angus Reid poll illuminates a deep divide across Canada. While Saskatchewan showed the biggest bump in support for the carbon tax after the rebates were announced, it remains the province where the plan has the least support, rising from just 11 per cent to 29 per cent. In Alberta, support for the federal carbon tax actually declined since the summer, possibly due to the continued uncertainty surrounding the Trans Mountain pipeline. Both the federal and Alberta governments have argued that strong climate policies will provide “social license” for pipelines that will carry Albertan bitumen to the West Coast. That logic has been fiercely criticized by conservative politicians both federally and provincially in Alberta.
On the issue of climate change, Canadians are increasingly less likely to trust their governments and the media, choosing instead to put their faith in "university scientists.”
Nearly eight in 10 Canadians trust scientists, while 56 per cent say they trust international bodies, like the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change, which has recently offered dire warnings about climate change. Forty-seven per cent of people trust the news media on climate change, while 45 per cent trust the federal government and 37 per cent trust their provincial government.
The online poll was self-commissioned by Angus Reid and was drawn from a sample of 1,500 Canadian adults. It has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.