Canadians want the Liberal leader to be opposed to carbon taxes: Poll

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OTTAWA — As Liberal Party members mull over their choices to pick their leader, a poll suggests Canadians want somebody willing to axe the tax.

Released this week, the new Leger poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation found 60% of respondents want the next leader of the Liberal Party to take a stance against the carbon tax.

The poll, said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano, should act as a wake-up call for those vying for party leadership.

“Taxpayers have trust issues, so if Liberal leadership hopefuls want Canadians to believe they oppose the carbon tax, then they must push the government to scrap the carbon tax now,” he said.

Nineteen per cent of those polled want a Liberal leader who supports the contentious tax, while 21% expressed no opinion.

With those who were unsure eliminated from the numbers, 91% of respondents who wanted an anti-carbon tax leader were declared Conservative Party supporters.

Of those remaining, 62% were NDP voters, 58% were Liberal or Bloc Quebecois supporters, and 54% pledged allegiance to the Green party.

Of those who wanted a pro-carbon tax Liberal leader, 46% were Greens, 42% for Liberals and BQ, 38% NDP supporters, and just 9% Conservative.

The poll was conducted between Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 from 1,527 Canadians of voting age via Leger’s online panel.

While margins of error cannot be applied to online panels, an equivalent sample size would yield a margin of ±2.1%, 19 times out of 20.

Launched in 2019, the wildly unpopular consumer carbon tax has become a political weight around the neck of the floundering Trudeau Liberals.

Starting at $20 per tonne, the tax rose by $10 per year until 2022, when the rate changed to a $15 annual increase.

The current consumer carbon tax will increase to $80 per tonne this April, and it slated to reach $170 per tonne by the end of the decade.

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In a poll released earlier this week, two-thirds of Canadians supported suspending the carbon tax altogether — a sentiment felt strongest among supporters of the Conservative and Green parties.

“Canadians shouldn’t have to pay the carbon tax on one more home heating bill or one more trip to the gas station,” said Terrazzano.

“The federal government can and should end the carbon tax immediately, and that’s exactly what anyone who wants to be the next prime minister should be pushing for.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume