Ontario Liberals distancing themselves from Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax

Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie appears to be distancing herself and her party from the Justin Trudeau government’s carbon tax, sidestepping questions about whether or not the policy has provincial support.

“I'm not here to tell the federal government how to do their job. They're getting lots of advice from a lot of people,” Crombie told reporters on Tuesday morning. “I'm here to create a very ambitious and innovative plan for Ontarians.”

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The Ontario Liberals have slowly started to walk back support for the federal carbon tax.

Parliamentary Leader John Fraser noted Monday it would be “fair” to say the Ontario Liberals were putting some space between their national counterparts.

“We’re not going to impose a carbon tax on families in our plan. It’s that simple,” he said.

The comments come as Crombie pledges not to institute a similar provincial policy if her party is elected in 2026. She said that while most of the Ontario Liberal environmental policy has yet to be decided—a panel was announced Monday to help shape these details—early consultations with caucus resulted in a firm commitment to no carbon tax.

“We will make polluters pay, but we won't add additional tax burden to Ontarians because we know they can't handle more taxes at this time.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie give remarks at a transit maintenance facility in Mississauga, Ont., on Thursday, March 21, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Canada’s price on pollution was established in 2019, and requires provinces territories to either establish a levy on greenhouse gas emissions or adopt the federal system.

Crombie reiterated that the carbon tax exists in Ontario because the Doug Ford government eliminated cap and trade in 2018. Cap and trade, which was a provincial Liberal party before Ford was elected premier, put limits on the amount of pollution certain companies could emit.

If a company exceeded the limit, they would have to buy allowances, putting additional money into the province’s coffers.

The Ford government will likely continue to push the provincial liberals for a firm stance on the federal carbon tax in an effort to continue and separate the two levels of government.

On Monday, Energy Minister Todd Smith targeted Crombie in the legislature, saying she didn’t say whether or not she was opposed to the federal carbon tax.

"What she didn't do, Mr. Speaker, is say that she's opposed to the federal carbon tax, Mr. Speaker, the one that's actually going to rise in two weeks from today. Mr. Speaker, by a whopping 23 per cent.”

The federal carbon tax is expected to rise next month. As of April 1, the price on carbon pollution will increase by $15 per tonne.

This is part of the federal government’s plan to increase the cost each year until 2030.