‘Axe the Tax’ denies climate change

This opinion was written by Gillian Steward and was published in the Toronto Star on March 26, 2024.

There’s no question that Pierre Poilievre’s incessant call to “axe the tax” has hit home with Canadians who believe the carbon tax is the reason that everything from groceries to gasoline costs more.

Never mind that most people are refunded more than they pay in carbon taxes. “Axe the tax” has a ring to it that captures the frustration of many when it comes to the cost of living.

But while Poilievre’s catchy slogan can easily rile a crowd and, according to recent polls, may eventually land him in the Prime Minister’s Office, what is he really saying? Or perhaps more aptly what is he not saying? Why doesn’t he ever connect the carbon tax to climate change?

“The real question here is what are we going to do about climate change?” energy and environmental economist Andrew Leach asked during an interview.

In his new book, “Between Doom and Denial: Facing Facts About Climate Change,” Leach states that climate change is the “environmental, political, and societal challenge of our time.

“I think there are going to be a lot of people who are surprised, after a Poilievre government comes in by how much climate action is going to go away … I haven’t seen Pierre Poilievre give any kind of indication other than, you know, we’ll rely on technology (to curb carbon emissions). OK, but how?”

If anyone knows what he is talking about when it comes to policies designed to abate global heating, it’s Leach. In 2015, NDP premier Rachel Notley appointed the University of Alberta academic as chair of an advisory panel on climate change policies.

In a relatively short time, Leach organized public input and expert views on the subject. The result was Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan, which would phase out coal-generated electricity, introduce a made-in Alberta carbon tax, incentivize renewable energy, and put a cap on oilsands carbon emissions.

Just like Poilievre is doing now, Jason Kenney, leader of the official opposition, vilified the Notley government for imposing a price on pollution and then quickly repealed it when he was elected premier in 2019. That automatically imposed the federal carbon tax on Alberta, which meant Justin Trudeau would take the heat for the tax not Kenney.

After all the political wrangling over the carbon tax, Leach still believes it, combined with other measures, is the best way to bring down the fossil fuel emissions that are causing the planet to heat up so quickly that we are already experiencing unprecedented high temperatures and all the disasters that come with them.

A tax on carbon emissions is the lowest cost emissions reduction tool, it encourages entrepreneurs to come up with more ways to reduce emissions, and it gets government out of the business of picking winners and losers, he said.

“If all we do is apply a higher price for pollution on big emitters (such as oilsands operations), Alberta and Saskatchewan will be impacted the most. It’s a very bad strategic decision for Alberta to drive any kind of focus away from consumer level carbon emissions,” Leach said.

Some premiers also want to dump the carbon tax, as do two Alberta NDP leadership candidates and Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie. If they are serious about climate change, what are they going to replace it with, Leach asks.

In his book, Leach warns that Canadians should not assume that somehow they can avoid the impacts of global climate change because we live in a cold, northern country or because we will learn to adapt or because we don’t emit much carbon compared to other countries. And we shouldn’t assume that demand for our oil and gas will continue to pump up our economy.

“There is no option for businessas-before. Our choice will increasingly become whether to act responsibly on our own initiative or have standards imposed on us by the rest of the world,” he writes.

“Axe the tax” is a catchy slogan, but it’s far from the whole story.

‘‘ There are going to be a lot of people who are surprised, after a Poilievre government comes in, by how much climate action is going to go away … I haven’t seen Pierre Poilievre give any kind of indication other than, you know, we’ll rely on technology (to curb carbon emissions). OK, but how? ANDREW LEACH ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMIST

Author: Ray Nakano

Ray is a retired, third generation Japanese Canadian born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He resides in Toronto where he worked for the Ontario Government for 28 years. Ray was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2011 and practises in the Plum Village tradition, supporting sanghas in their mindfulness practice. Ray is very concerned about our climate crisis. He has been actively involved with the ClimateFast group (https://climatefast.ca) for the past 5 years. He works to bring awareness of our climate crisis to others and motivate them to take action. He has created the myclimatechange.home.blog website, for tracking climate-related news articles, reports, and organizations. He has created mobilizecanada.ca to focus on what you can do to address the climate crisis. He is always looking for opportunities to reach out to communities, politicians, and governments to communicate about our climate crisis and what we need to do. He says: “Our world is in dire straits. We have to bend the curve on our heat-trapping pollutants in the next few years if we hope to avoid the most serious impacts of human-caused global warming. Doing nothing is not an option. We must do everything we can to create a livable future for our children, our grandchildren, and all future generations.”