Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney has pledged to “cancel” and “replace” the carbon tax.
Speaking in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the former Bank of Canada governor said the tax “isn’t working” and has “become too divisive.”
He said he will replace it with “incentives to reward people for greener choices" that will be paid for by "big polluters."
Carney said the tax will be immediately removed as soon as he became prime minister. But he added: "While President Trump and some Americans may be turning back the clock on climate action ... we're picking up the pace."
Responding to the announcement, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney was actually pledging to "pause" the carbon tax until after the next federal election and "then bring in a bigger tax with no rebate."
He added: "He'll bring in the mother of all carbon taxes, a job-killing, inflationary carbon tax that will drive jobs into the hands of President Trump. My common sense plan will axe the tax for everyone, forever.
Carney is one of five competitors in the leadership election, which will conclude on March 9.
Whoever wins will become prime minister.
Under his proposed system, incentives will be put in place to encourage people to purchase the likes of electric vehicles and better home insulation.
In a news release accompanying his media appearance, his team explained: “This plan will be complemented by measures to: invest in energy efficient buildings and electrified transportation; have big polluters pay Canadians to make their green choices while paying their fair share for emissions; help make Canadian companies more competitive so that Canada can leapfrog the United States in international markets; and introduce trade measures to ensure fairness for Canadian industries in the global economy to ally with those countries engaged in the fight against climate change.
“Mark Carney is laser-focused on lowering costs for families and will put forward major economic measures to strengthen the economy and ensure households are immediately better off.”
Carney also attacked Poilievre, who has made abolishing the carbon tax central to his campaign to become prime minister.
Carney's Carbon Tax Trick:
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) January 31, 2025
Suspend the Liberal tax til after the election when he will bring in an even bigger tax with no rebate. pic.twitter.com/h2YkEUiLI8
He said Poilievre “pretends we have to choose between fighting climate change and growing our economy.”
“His simplistic and misleading Axe the Tax inaction won’t work and would cost families more,” he said.
“We can make Canadian families better off, we can fight climate change together and build the strongest economy in the G7.”
Poilievre has repeatedly dismissed Carney as "Carbon Tax Carney" and accused of him prioritizing the development of natural resources overseas instead of at home in Canada. He has also claimed Carney is "Just like Justin [Trudeau]."
Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, seen by many political analysts as Carney’s chief rival, has also pledged to ditch the carbon tax.
