Could another tax be what destroys a government?
On March 23, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s funeral was held in Montréal. One of the legacies of our 18th prime minister is the Goods and Services Tax (GST)—also known as the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in some provinces. The GST contributed to the sharp decline in popularity of then-Prime Minister Mulroney. He resigned in 1993, and his successor Kim Campbell and the Progressive Conservatives faced under Kim Campbell faced a catastrophic defeat in that year’s election. Voters remembered the GST on election day.
More than 30 years later, we have another unpopular tax in Canada, the carbon tax. It aims to change industry and consumer behaviour by taxing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with products which produce it. For most of us, that’s the fuel we put in the automobiles we need to do our jobs. That tax is set to increase again on April 1, unless you live in Québec or British Columbia, which have separate CO2 pricing programs.
Back in 1991, the government obviously knew it had a windfall of revenue coming with the GST because Canadians were not about to stop buying clothes, maintaining their homes, or eating at restaurants. Today, it is the same with the carbon tax. Electric or hybrid vehicles are still out of reach financially and logistically for much of the population, and those of us living and working in small town and rural regions need our gas and diesel vehicles to get to work, haul goods, and work the land. Yes, the federal government pays a yearly rebate credit to qualifying individuals to offset the financial burden of the carbon tax, but like the GST credit which has existed for 33 years, it does not cover the entire amount of tax the individual has paid.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his party will “axe the tax” if it forms the next government. Last week, the Conservatives tried to bring down the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a non-confidence vote in the House of Commons. The Conservatives knew their attempt would fail all along because the New Democrats would vote with the Liberals. It was basically a clever publicity stunt to further rile the public against an unpopular tax. As the unpopular GST helped erode the popularity of Mulroney and the Progressive Conservatives in 1991, the unpopular carbon tax is eroding the popularity of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals in 2024.
Trudeau and Environment Minister Steven Guilbault defend the tax as something good for the long-term health of Canadians and their environment. However, until we have affordable, reliable electric vehicles for every income and charging stations in every driveway, we need short-term relief from this tax on the price of fuel. Trudeau and the Liberals need to put their pride aside and take the carbon tax off of retail vehicle fuel. Otherwise, voters will remember the carbon tax on election day.
