Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie declined to comment on the federal charge for carbon emissions even as her party rejected a provincial carbon tax if they win in 2026.
On Monday, Crombie announced her party is forming a new climate change panel to examine potential legal actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but emphasized that the panel is not allowed to consider new taxes as a solution.
“The only requirement I've given them is to not go in that direction (carbon tax),” Crombie stated at a news conference at Queen’s Park.
However, Crombie has been facing inquiries about whether her opposition to a carbon tax is a critique of the federal Liberals’ pricing policy, which adds an extra cost to all fossil fuels in Ontario and other provinces without their own carbon pricing policies.
While the federal government argues that the average Ontario family will receive a total of $1,120 in rebate cheques in 2024, the Ford government has criticized the carbon price as a tax that makes living costs higher in the province.
Despite being asked multiple times, Crombie declined to discuss the federal carbon price but stated that the Ontario Liberals “won’t impose additional tax burden on Ontarians.”
“We know they can’t handle more taxes this time,” Crombie said. “I’m out in the community all the time and in the grocery store (they) are deciding whether they can afford meat this week, whether they can pay their rent and their cell bill in the same month.”
“So people can’t afford more taxation and higher taxation right now,” Crombie said.
Crombie’s remarks join those of Liberal, NDP and Conservative governments warning about the growing effects of the carbon price.
Seven premiers, including Premier Doug Ford, have urged the federal government to scrap the planned 23 per cent increase scheduled for April 1.
To counteract the increase, the Ford government is expected to continue a 5.7 cent per litre reduction in the price of gasoline, which has so far cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars.
