In what is widely seen as a strategic blunder, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pausing the carbon price on home heating oil has kicked off backlash from coast to coast, with new polling revealing collapsing support for his signature climate policy.
A bill to create more carbon price exemptions for farmers is in the home stretch in the Senate as the federal government faces sustained criticism for its decision to exempt home heating oil from the federal carbon pricing system.
Canada's climate policy is built on the foundation of an economy-wide carbon tax. But as that continues to get eroded, it's worth asking if there's a better way forward — and if are there lessons we can learn from the ongoing attacks on the levy.
Canada’s environment commissioner said it is not clear how the oil and gas sector will achieve the greenhouse gas emission reductions prescribed under the federal government’s climate plan, and called for more transparency around the modelling.
A political consensus is emerging that climate policy is not compatible with a fair and prosperous economy, which puts Canada’s broader efforts to tackle the climate crisis at grave risk.
As the deadline to repay pandemic loans and receive partial forgiveness approaches, small businesses are still hoping the federal government will reverse course and extend it for another year.
Last week, Trudeau announced his government would pause for three years the carbon price on home heating oil to make it easier for users of that fuel to switch to electric heat pumps.
On Monday, Bloc Québécois MPs will decide the fate of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s motion to exempt all fuel for home heating from the carbon price. The motion is non-binding but is significant because it serves to keep the hot-button carbon tax debate alive and in the public eye.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tabled the motion, insisting the government's decision last week to temporarily pause carbon pricing for home heating oil for three years is a divisive policy to save Liberal seats in Atlantic Canada.