The Liberal leader's hidden tax will play right into Donald Trump’s hands
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By Carson Binda, Special to National Post
Published Apr 23, 2025
Last updated 10hours ago
3 minute read
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Liberal Leader Mark Carney is arguing that he can “tighten” industrial carbon taxes without increasing costs for consumers. That’s a tough sell. After all, a carbon tax on businesses is a carbon tax on Canadians that will make life more expensive for families struggling to make ends meet.
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New polling conducted by Leger for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation shows that Canadians overwhelmingly understand that the costs of an industrial carbon tax, like the one championed by Carney, are passed on to consumers.
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When asked who they think ultimately pays carbon taxes on businesses, 70 per cent believe that most (44 per cent) or some (26 per cent) of the costs are passed onto consumers. Only nine per cent believe Carney’s talking points that businesses will pay most of the cost.
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When undecided responses are removed from the equation, 89 per cent understand that consumers — i.e., normal Canadians — are going to be paying the costs of Carney’s carbon tax.
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That’s a major problem for Carney, as almost no one actually believes his carbon tax talking points. Canadians understand that if Carney slaps refineries with a carbon tax, it makes gasoline and diesel more expensive.
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If Carney hammers concrete plants with a carbon tax, it will make building homes more expensive. And if he hits fertilizer plants with a carbon tax, it will become more expensive for farmers to grow the food that winds up in your local grocery store.
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Carney claims he’s going to make “big polluters pay,” but Canadians know who will actually be left with the bill: families at the checkout counter.
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Nearly half of Canadians say that rising prices are already greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses, according to Statistics Canada. Hiking hidden carbon taxes that pass costs down to consumers would likely only make the situation worse.
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For his part, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will axe all carbon taxes. He is the only major federal leader making that promise. Eliminating all carbon taxes is the right move to support Canadians struggling with the cost of living.
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Carney, on the other hand, wants to keep hammering you with hidden taxes. While he did move the consumer carbon tax rate to zero, he left the law on the books, which means there’s nothing stopping him from jacking up the consumer tax, too, if he wins the election.
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The vast majority of countries, including three of the four biggest carbon emitters, do not charge a national carbon tax. If Carney and the Liberals are seriously planning on hammering Canadian businesses with a carbon tax, we will see more companies shifting production and jobs to other countries.
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When we are staring down the barrel of a trade war with the United States, hammering Canadian businesses with a carbon tax is like putting a backpack full of bricks on a runner before a marathon.
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A carbon tax on businesses will push our entrepreneurs to cut production in Canada and increase production south of the border. Anti-Canadian policies like the hidden carbon tax play right into U.S. President Donald Trump’s hands.
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Carney can keep spinning his carbon tax fairy tales, but Canadians can see right through them. Canadians want relief, not rhetoric, and the only way to provide real relief is to leave more money in their pockets by ending carbon taxes on consumers and businesses.
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Carson Binda is the B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
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