We all know that the carbon tax the federal Liberal government wants to ramrod down our throats is not in the best interests of Saskatchewan.
For the longest time, this province was the lone wolf in the fight against the carbon tax. The provincial government has said there are other alternatives to fight climate change than a tax that will cripple this province’s competitiveness with other jurisdictions, hamstring key industries and take money from the pockets of all citizens.
But the election of the Doug Ford-led Conservatives in Ontario last week might have changed the game when it comes to the carbon tax. Ford has said his party will scrap the carbon tax.
Now if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to be believed, that means the Liberals will then impose a carbon tax on Ontario. That might not be the wisest of moves.
Just imagine the federal Liberals forcing a carbon tax on a province that has just elected a government whose vow is to scrap that carbon tax. The carbon tax in Ontario was introduced by a government that was so popular that it won all of seven seats in the last provincial election, and lost its official party status.
Trudeau likely isn’t going to be worried too much about whether Saskatchewan or Manitoba opposes the carbon tax plan. Those are provinces that don’t have a lot of seats. And in the case of Saskatchewan, it has largely been a Conservative province federally for more than 20 years.
But if the feds decide to force a carbon tax on Ontario, with more than 100 federal ridings, it risks infuriating voters in that province. While the Trudeau government has lost some of its support in Ontario since the 2015 election, they would still gain the bulk of the seats in that province if an election were held today.
That might change if the federal Liberals decide to impose a carbon tax on Ontario right after residents escape it.
The Liberals could also have a carbon tax fight looming in Alberta if the provincial United Conservative Party is elected next year, and decides to scrap that province’s carbon tax.
We’ve argued before that a carbon tax should be left up to the individual provinces to decide. If they want a carbon tax, that’s their prerogative. If they want a cap and trade system, or if they want to spend on innovation in reducing carbon emissions, then they also have that choice.
Governments can’t sit back, cross their fingers and hope that climate change isn’t man-made. They need to take action to reduce carbon emissions.
In Saskatchewan’s case, there are better options than a carbon tax.
And now that Ontario has joined the fight, the Trudeau government might just have to put their carbon tax plan in the same pile of ideas as electoral reform.
