Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault is endorsing former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney as the next Liberal leader, and says he is willing to work with him on finding a replacement for the consumer carbon tax.
“He’s navigated crises when he was at Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, and I know he’s the right person to help bring us into the next phase of our work to support Canadian to build a strong economy and to fight climate change,” Guilbeault said to reporters Tuesday at the Liberal cabinet retreat in Montebello, Que.
The future of the consumer carbon tax — a marquee climate policy from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government — has come under the spotlight during the Liberal leadership race.
Carney has not directly said he would scrap the policy but has signalled he is open to alternatives.
“If you are going to take out the carbon tax, you should replace it with something that is at least, if not more effective,” Carney said to the media last week during his campaign launch.
Guilbeault has been a vocal defender of the carbon tax.
Asked directly if he accepts getting rid of the policy, Guilbeault said, “I continue to believe that the consumer price on pollution is one of the best tools we have to fight climate change,” but added “it’s not the only one we have.”
“I will continue to work with Mr. Carney to ensure that if we don’t go ahead with the consumer carbon price, that we have something else in place that will both help Canadians with affordability, but that will also help us to achieve our 2030 targets,” Guilbeault said.
When asked directly if the carbon tax is dead, Guilbeault said “absolutely not” and pointed to the industrial price on pollution.
“All of the candidates have to my knowledge, have said that they will continue supporting the industrial carbon pricing, which, may I remind you, gives us three times more emission reduction than the consumer carbon pricing, and we will continue,” Guilbeault said.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Conservative Party once again linked Carney to the Trudeau government, saying, “In case you needed more proof that Carbon Tax Carney is just like Justin, today Trudeau’s radical Environment Minister and most fanatical carbon tax zealot endorsed him.”
The statement goes on to say, “The fact that Guilbeault endorsed Carney is a clear signal that Canadians will get stuck with the devastating carbon tax if Carney ever becomes Prime Minister.”
Where do others stand on carbon tax?
Fellow leadership contender Chrystia Freeland has vowed to make scrapping the controversial consumer carbon tax one of her campaign policy planks.
“I think we all know we have to fight against climate change. We all get that we need to do it for our kids, we need to do it for climate… but it is also the case that we need to get better at listening to Canadians and at listening to what Canadians are telling us,” Freeland said during her campaign launch on Sunday.
“We have heard very clearly from Canadians in provinces where there is a consumer-facing price on carbon, that they don’t like it. That’s something that we have to listen to.”
Her campaign has signalled that the former finance minister — who stood behind Trudeau’s signature climate policy for years — would replace the system with one that would be developed with the collaboration of provinces and territories, after considerable pushback from premiers.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also been campaigning across the country on his pledge to “axe the tax,” and has suggested the carbon tax will be a key ballot question in the upcoming federal election.
This April, the price on carbon is set to increase to $95 a tonne from $80 a tonne in provinces where the federal backstop applies, costing drivers an extra 3.3 cents per litre at the pump.
The tax is scheduled to increase another $15 each year until it reaches $170 a tonne in 2030. To offset the cost, Canadians who live in regions where the backstop applies will receive a quarterly payment known as the “Canada Carbon Rebate.”
Stopping short of joining Carney and Freeland in pledging to scrap the consumer carbon price, fellow Liberal leadership hopeful Karina Gould announced this weekend she’d immediately cancel the coming spring increase and look at other measures to reduce emissions going forward.
“Climate change is one of the most important issues that we are facing, and one of the things that I love most about Canadians is that when there is a problem, they look for ways to solve it. And I understand that the price on pollution is something that a lot of Canadians don’t feel speaks to what and how they think they can contribute and how they can make a difference,” Gould said on Sunday.
Last week, Trudeau was asked about the policy being in jeopardy, saying “I am not spending any time right now reflecting on my legacy.”
“Future governments will make the choices they make, but Canadians can know that it is possible to both fight climate change and put more money in the pockets of the middle class at the same time,” Trudeau added.
Liberal leadership endorsements
Guilbeault is the latest cabinet minister to endorse Carney for Liberal leader.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree, Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan and Diversity and Inclusion Minister Kamal Khera have also thrown their support behind the former central banker.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Mark Holland, Justice Minister Arif Virani, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Diane Lebouthillier and Citizens’ Services Minister Terry Beech are backing Freeland.
