Evaluation: Public Perception of the Government’s Attempt to Rebrand Carbon Tax
CALGARY—For those manning the three-month-old protest encampment near a gas station just outside Calgary, the federal carbon tax is a symbol of everything wrong with Canada’s economy.
“With the carbon tax, it’s a cascading effect. Trucks bring in your food, the prices go up, and then there’s of course greed and monopoly at the grocery stores,” Jason Wright, who began protesting against the tax in April, told The Epoch Times in an interview.
Mr. Wright said he is one of five “core” protesters at the encampment, which he says is visited by a steady stream of supporters every day, including off-duty police officers. Drivers travelling along Highway 1 often honk as they pass by the site, which is adorned with signs reading, “Remove The Carbon Tax” and “I Am An Anti-Taxer.”
A Rebranding Effort
As part of their climate policies, the Liberals introduced the carbon tax in 2019 as one of the key ways to reduce carbon emissions. The tax is set to increase every year until it reaches
$170 per tonne in 2030.
Many banks had said changing the names was too difficult and that they had a limited number of characters to work with. However, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made a change to the Financial Administration Act in the April budget that requires banks to abide by the government’s wishes for the label, allowing them to be named “CdaCarbonRebate.”
Impact?
While it may be too early to tell if the rebranding effort reflected in bank accounts on July 15 has been effective, the announcement of the name change earlier this year in itself didn’t seem to have done much to change the popularity of the carbon tax.
Among the latest available polls is one by the Liaison Strategies poll in April that suggested only 27 percent of people in Ontario support the levy, while 49 percent oppose it.
“It might all be too little too late, since the opposition to the carbon price has been whipped up so vociferously by opponents,” he said in an interview.
“People in general value losses in the form of carbon tax payments much greater than otherwise equivalent gains,” she said.
Ms. Rhodes also said that while the Liberal government has been “doing everything possible to increase the popularity of the carbon tax,” including changing the name of the rebate payments, it may be “a little bit too late.”
“I think there might be some marginal increases [in support] for this rebate coming into people’s accounts, but I don’t think it will dramatically change the popularity of the policy and popularity of the government.”
Former Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page told The Epoch Times that there are strong opinions on both sides of this issue and that the tax will play a key role in the federal election next fall.
“It is inevitable in a democracy that we are going to have a major debate about putting a price on carbon. With or without a rebate, I assume climate policy will be a major issue in the next federal election,” Mr. Page said.