Liberal Leadership Hopefuls Backtrack on Carbon Tax as Conservatives Double Down
As the Liberal leadership race heats up, the three leading contenders are signaling a retreat from the federal government’s flagship carbon pricing policy. Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould, and Mark Carney have all moved to soften their positions on consumer carbon pricing, aiming to neutralize a key Conservative talking point ahead of the next election.
The Liberals first introduced the carbon price in 2019 as part of their broader climate plan, a policy they have championed as critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the measure has faced persistent criticism, with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre framing the upcoming election as a referendum on the carbon tax.
Chrystia Freeland, who launched her campaign on Sunday, has pledged to eliminate consumer carbon pricing, citing mounting public resistance.
“That’s what the people are saying to us, and democracy is about listening to people,” Freeland said during a CP24 interview on Monday. She clarified, however, that she still supports industrial carbon pricing, which accounts for the bulk of emissions reductions under Canada’s climate plan.
Freeland’s shift marks a stark departure from her earlier staunch defense of the policy. As deputy prime minister, she had repeatedly called carbon pricing the most economically effective way to combat climate change.
Karina Gould, another leadership contender, has taken a less drastic approach, pledging to freeze the carbon price and halt scheduled increases.
“We need to immediately cancel the increase to the price on pollution ahead of April 1,” Gould said at her campaign launch. She emphasized the need to make electric vehicles and energy-efficient home heating more affordable to help Canadians transition to cleaner energy sources.
Gould’s campaign statements contrast with her previous defense of the carbon price as essential to addressing the “existential threat” of climate change.
Mark Carney, the third frontrunner, has been less definitive in his stance. While attending UN climate talks in 2021, Carney advocated for carbon pricing as a global strategy to cut emissions. However, in recent months, he has hinted that the policy may have outlived its usefulness.
“The carbon price has served its purpose until now,” Carney said, suggesting that any replacement must achieve equivalent emissions reductions. During his campaign launch in Edmonton, he acknowledged public perceptions that the carbon price takes more than it gives back, despite evidence to the contrary.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has seized on the Liberal leadership contenders’ wavering stances, framing their retreat as a victory for his party’s longstanding opposition to the carbon tax. Conservative ads targeting Liberal candidates have emphasized the economic burden of the policy on Canadian households.
Freeland’s campaign dismissed these attacks, with her team mocking Poilievre’s deputy leader Andrew Scheer for his stockpile of “axe the tax” merchandise.
Chris Ragan, founding director of McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy, called the Liberal candidates’ pivot a sign of political desperation.
“The policy itself is well-designed and effective, but it’s been poorly communicated,” Ragan said. “Abandoning or softening the carbon price now is more about political optics than policy rationale.”
An analysis by the Canadian Climate Institute found that while consumer carbon pricing could cut emissions by 20 million tonnes annually by 2030, industrial pricing accounts for the lion’s share of the projected 100-million-tonne reduction.
As leadership hopefuls seek to balance political strategy with environmental policy, their approaches reflect growing public unease about the carbon tax. With the Conservative Party framing the tax as a central issue in the next election, the Liberal Party’s position on climate policy could prove decisive in shaping the political landscape.