The Liberal Party has dominated politics in Canada since 2013, but a key national climate program appears ready to collapse.
Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney, a Liberal who will replace Justin Trudeau on Friday, has said he plans to abolish a carbon pricing system that many residents have paid since 2019 on fossil fuel products, including gasoline, diesel and natural gas.
The political tide turned against the carbon policy because the Canadian government “essentially decided they’d won the war on carbon pricing and moved on to other things,” said Andrew Leach, professor of economics and law at University of Alberta, referring to factors that included the government winning legal challenges to the policy. That “let the opposition take over the narrative on that price,” he argued.
Conservatives have campaigned on abolishing the carbon fee, calling for Canada to “ax the tax” and “loudly shouting that this is costing everybody and driving up the cost of everything,” said David Wright, a law professor at the University of Calgary.
