Editorial: The Link Between Carbon Tax and Elections.

North Shuswap Kicker

October 2024

Readers will know that I have consistently opposed federal carbon tax hikes implemented in 2019 that have made life more costly for Canadians. Especially during times of crises that included pandemic, wildfires, housing scarcity, and skyrocketing inflation, one would think that Prime Minister Trudeau and his enablers would have allowed some relief for Canadian taxpayers, but taxes have repeatedly increased with limited relief delivered to a limited number of Canadians. 

When federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh loudly ended his supply-and-confidence agreement with Trudeau, Singh criticized Trudeau and the Liberals for being too weak and too selfish to fight for people. The irony of Singh’s sudden rejection of Trudeau was that it was Singh who allowed Trudeau to govern unchecked for the last two-and-a-half years. This was a period when Canadians saw the stability and security of their lives undermined by inflationary spending, tax hikes, and generally bad policies.

Now that the next legislated federal election date is a year out, Singh wishes to appear as if he has not enabled the pains Trudeau has inflicted; pains of inflation, interest rate hikes, catch-and-release for violent offenders, and the application of the Emergencies Act that the Federal Court has since ruled was unreasonable. Most minority governments would fear being toppled for failing to prevent any one of these, but Singh propped Trudeau up and now he is scrambling to distance himself from the legacy of failures.

Now, Singh has hinted that if he forms government, he wouldn’t preserve the federal carbon tax regime and hikes that he allowed Trudeau to impose on Canadians. It’s also rich to see BC’s NDP perform a backflip-twist with Premier Eby’s announcement that his government would scrap the BC consumer carbon tax when a future PM finally axes the tax.

Only weeks ago, the likes of Singh and Eby were unmovable in their imposition of carbon tax hikes, but now that there are elections approaching, they are suddenly awakening to the pains that they have allowed Trudeau to force on Canadians. Canadians were already struggling and having to make tough decisions about where to cut household budgets because Ottawa and Victoria needed more money from the folks who wake up every day and go to work to earn the money in the first place. And let’s not forget Seniors and those who are unable to work, who live on fixed incomes that simply cannot keep up with the economic storms these so-called leaders inflict.

Throughout all this, Conservatives have been the only party exposing the true costs the ever-increasing carbon tax has imposed on Canadians and our economy. We have advocated for actions that would benefit Canada and reduce global emissions like increasing exports of LNG so that other nations that account for much of global emissions can replace coal.

I continue to work on behalf of the people I represent and fight for common sense policies that will stabilize and secure our lives and communities and allow for a better future for all.