LILLEY: PM Carney has it all wrong with industrial carbon tax

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The carbon tax will still be an issue in the coming election. It’s a topic both Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre were talking about Monday.

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While Conservative Leader Poilievre was promising to scrap the industrial carbon tax, Prime Minister Carney was defending it as a necessity on his trip to Europe.

On Friday, Carney and his just sworn-in government passed an order-in-council to reduce the rate of the consumer carbon tax to zero come April 1. The industrial carbon tax remains in place, though, and will increase by nearly 20% on that same day.

Standing in a steel plant in L’Original, Ont., about an hour east of Ottawa, Poilievre said that increasing the carbon tax on businesses at a time like this will kill off jobs.

“Ivaco makes hot rolled steel wire and steel billets and these taxes drive up the cost of the entire domestic steel industry,” Poilievre said. “Mr. Carney has said that he wants to expand the industrial carbon tax beyond the already eye-watering increases the government has passed into law.”

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Poilievre said that if elected Prime Minister, he would repeal the entire carbon tax while offering incentives for companies to reduce emissions.

“While the Liberals tax businesses who use energy, Conservatives will cut taxes and boost incentives for those who bring down emissions. Carrot, not stick,” Poilievre said.

Speaking in London after a meeting with British PM Keir Starmer, Carney who has spent the past few days boasting about dropping the consumer carbon tax, said it was vital that there be a carbon tax on industry. Hang on a minute, until five minutes ago, the policy of the Liberal Party and a policy advocated by Carney was that a consumer carbon tax was vital for the health of the planet.

Carney said increasing the carbon tax on industries, like steel plants, is an economic opportunity that will create jobs.

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“We have an enormous opportunity here in Canada. The United Kingdom has an enormous opportunity. France has an enormous opportunity. Europe has an enormous opportunity to leapfrog over American companies. They’re trying to turn back the clock and look inwards. We’re going to take that opportunity,” he said.

Of course, if the polls change again and the Liberals are less popular, Carney’s answer and policy could change,. That’s the way these Liberals work.

While in London, Carney said that Poilievre couldn’t have the kinds of meetings he had on Monday, but Poilievre said that meetings on their own don’t produce jobs and economic opportunity.

“France signed a natural gas supply agreement with Qatar. We could be selling that gas,” Poilievre said while pointing out the Liberals have refused to approve LNG export terminals.

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“We know they need our gas. Japan, Greece, Germany, France, and other countries, Ukraine, have all asked for our natural gas. But the radical net zero keep it in the ground ideology that has guided the Carney Trudeau Liberals for 10 years and caused the lost decade has prevented us from doing it,” Poilievre said.

Carney did not get a deal to sell Canada natural gas when he was in Paris. In fact, he got photo ops and not much more. The British Prime Minister wouldn’t even hold a joint press conference with Carney and in the past, Starmer has refused when asked to stand up for Canada.

The biggest achievement Carney had on his European trip was showing arrogance and disdain when journalists asked about his significant investment and asset portfolio, now in a blind trust, and what potential conflicts of interest there might be.

Carney lectured both Stephanie Levitz of the Globe and Mail and Rosemary Barton of CBC for daring to ask questions. He came off as arrogant and condescending to two of the people who will be covering him during the just-about-to-be-called election campaign.

It wasn’t a good look for Carney and it wasn’t a good trip.

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