Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland would drop the consumer carbon tax — one of the Liberal government’s signature environmental policies — if elected leader, said a source close to her campaign.
The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told CBC News the former deputy prime minister will “make difficult decisions to meet our emissions targets and make sure big polluters pay for their outsized emissions.”
But the source said Freeland “will not fight Canadians on a policy they have been clear they do not support.”
“Freeland will replace the consumer carbon price with a system that will work within our federation and will be developed collaboratively with provinces and territories,” said the source.
The news was first reported by CTV News.
Freeland has not yet formally declared her intentions to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but sources have said she will launch her campaign before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump takes office on Monday.
Posting to social media Wednesday, Freeland said she will “have much more to say very soon!”
As a prominent Liberal who held multiple high-profile cabinet positions over the last nine years, Freeland is widely considered to be one of the heavyweights in the race to be the next Liberal leader on March 9. The winner would become prime minister.
Carney asked about carbon tax on American TV
The race’s other perceived front-runner, former central banker Mark Carney, has been coy about his plans for the carbon tax.
Appearing on the The Daily Show earlier this week, Carney was asked by host Jon Stewart if being left the “carbon tax bag” would make running against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre harder in a general election.
Carney, who is officially launching his campaign in Edmonton on Thursday, said Canada is “doing our bit, making our companies more competitive.
“But we need to do it in a way that Canadians today are not paying the price,” he said, without defending the carbon tax or pledging to keep the policy.
A day after Mark Carney teased his run for the Liberal leadership on The Daily Show, former B.C. premier Christy Clark and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced they weren’t entering the race.
“The vast majority of our emissions in Canada come from our industry,” Carney added. “In fact, almost 30 per cent of our emissions in Canada come from the production and shipment of oil to the United States.”
Part of tackling climate change in Canada is “cleaning that up, getting those emissions down, more than changing, in a very short period of time, the way Canadians live,” Carney said.
The carbon tax, also known as a price on carbon, came into effect at $20 per tonne in 2019. It has steadily climbed in the years since and is scheduled to go up another $15 each year until 2030, when it reaches $170 a tonne.
The gradual increases are meant to act as a financial incentive for people and businesses to change their behaviour to burn less fossil fuels and transition to greener forms of energy.
Residents in provinces where the carbon tax applies receive money back through a rebate program.
Potential leadership candidate still defending program
Energy and Natural Resources Minister — and carbon tax defender — Jonathan Wilkinson has said he’s “actively considering” a leadership run.
Speaking in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning, he called it the most “economically efficient way to reduce emissions.
“Cancelling the carbon price is actually going to make people on modest incomes less well off in this country,” he said.
The minister said he has questions for Freeland and any other leadership contender who wants to eliminate the program about how they plan to meet Canada’s climate targets.
“And the target is aligned with what science tells us,” he said
“So there are other ways to get to the target, but my question to Ms. Freeland will be: ‘What is her climate plan and how will she do that?'”
Government House leader Karina Gould is expected to launch a leadership bid this week.
When asked during a news conference Tuesday if she would scrap the carbon tax, the Ontario MP said she’d have more to say in the coming days.
Poilievre has long positioned himself against the policy and has repeatedly called on Trudeau to call a “carbon tax” election.
The majority of the country’s premiers have also been outspoken against the federal program. Earlier this year, they called on Trudeau to pause or cancel the spring increase to consumers, citing cost of living concerns.