Conservative leadership contender Erin O’Toole says he backs provinces imposing their own carbon taxes on heavy industries, and that voters want to see his party take global warming seriously..In a Zoom townhall meeting with party members, O’Toole was asked a question about how he will address global warming with voters without unduly damaging the economy..“Our policy needs to be first off, respecting provincial jurisdiction. So if Premier Kenney can use the carbon tax on large emitters to get emissions down, we should support that, and then work on emission reduction through targeted federal investments, and through using tax systems smartly.”.Alberta’s UCP government retained the NDP’s carbon tax on large industries, however the government refers to it under the new name, Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regulation..“Ontario and the reason we lost, was largely because swing voters in the 905 [Greater Toronto region] where I’m elected…those swing voters thought we were climate change deniers,” O’Toole continued..“I consider myself a green-minded Tory. We need to articulate our vision. Get it out there early and then defend it. Most voters – once they know we have a serious approach – they don’t really care whether it’s a carbon tax, or emission reduction by sector. They just want to know that we take the public policy issue seriously.”.While O’Toole backed provinces imposing their own carbon taxes, he told the WesternStandard that he wouldn’t penalize provinces that did not..“I will scrap Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax and stop the Liberal practice of dictating to the Premiers what their policies should be.” .Fellow leadership contender Peter MacKay has articulated a similar position on carbon taxes, backing provinces that impose them and federal regulations on specific sectors.
