Support rises for carbon price plan

New poll finds people warm to PM’s levy to cut greenhouse gas emissions

OTTAWA— A new poll suggests Canadians warmed to the federal government’s carbon price plan after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced most people hit by Ottawa’s fuel levy would get rebates that outweigh the cost of the tax.

The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey of1,500 Canadian adults from Oct. 24 to 29, the six days after Trudeau unveiled details of the Liberal government’s plan to deter greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change with a price on carbon. A slim majority of respondents — 54 per cent — said they support the carbon price plan, while 46 per cent said they oppose it. That’s a nine-point uptick from an Angus Reid poll in July, when 45 per cent supported the federal carbon price and 55 per cent opposed it.

The latest survey also found support for the carbon price in Ontario — where Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford is campaigning against the new levy on fuel — jumped by 11 points from 43 per cent in July to 52 per cent last week.

A randomized poll with this sample size carries a margin of error of plus/minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Angus Reid executive director Shachi Kurl said that, while there appears to be a bump in support for Trudeau’s carbon price, her data show Canadians remain starkly divided on the issue. She pointed to how her poll shows 80 per cent of respondents who voted Conservative in 2015 oppose the carbon price plan while 71 per cent of Liberal voters and 69 per cent of NDP voters support the plan.

A separate survey published Tuesday also suggests support for the carbon price plan has gone up recently.

Almost half (47 per cent) of respondents to an online survey conducted Oct. 26 to 28 by Innovative Research Group said they “strongly” or “somewhat” support the federal carbon price plan — up from 35 per cent in July.