JAY GOLDBERG: Canadians aren’t buying Mark Carney’s carbon tax spin

Although Prime Minister Mark Carney scrapped the consumer carbon tax in 2025, he is on a mission to make Canadians’ lives more expensive by jacking up industrial carbon taxes in 2026.

Carney wants Canadians to believe businesses can somehow be taxed without those costs being passed on to consumers.

A recent poll suggests Canadians aren’t buying what Carney is selling.

That poll, from Léger, shows 85% of respondents believe industrial carbon taxes make their lives more expensive, because businesses will pass on at least some or most of the cost to consumers.

Digging deeper, 55% of respondents said they believe businesses pay little of the tax’s cost and pass the vast majority of it on to consumers.

Just 15% of respondents believe the government’s rhetoric that businesses bear the majority of the costs.

Canadians rely on common sense

Back when he was running for Liberal leader, Carney said he wanted to make “the large companies pay for everybody.”

He relied on that same rhetoric to sell this fall’s federal budget, which calls for higher industrial carbon taxes.

Carney’s problem is that Canadians tend to rely on common sense.

They know carbon taxes on refineries make gas and diesel more expensive, which in turn makes it more expensive to drive to work and take the kids to school.

When carbon taxes drive up the cost of fertilizer and increase costs for farmers, food and groceries become more expensive.

Carbon taxes on utilities also make home heating and powering one’s home more expensive.

So, unless there’s someone out there who doesn’t drive, eat and need heat, they’re going to be hit by industrial carbon taxes.

That brings up another concern — keeping Canada’s businesses competitive.

Canadian businesses have been leaving for the United States in droves. Lower taxes, fewer regulations and lower utility costs, not to mention U.S. tariffs, are but a few reasons why so many businesses are choosing to head south of the border.

Industrial carbon taxes add yet another reason for companies to look south.

Why would a fertilizer plant, fuel refinery or steel plant want to come to or stay in Canada and face those extra costs?

U.S. President Donald Trump has been using tariffs and every other tool at his disposal to attract businesses away from Canada and encourage them to move south of the 49th parallel. Why is Carney on a mission to make Trump’s job easier?

Consumers can see how much tax costs them

Transparency is another problem.

The consumer carbon tax was so hated because Canadians could see plainly how much it was costing them.

At the gas pump, the cost of the carbon tax was clear. The same was true every time Canadians paid their home heating bills.

Industrial carbon taxes, however, are more insidious. They cost Canadians nearly everywhere, but the cost is buried in the price.

Although Canadians know in theory that industrial carbon taxes cost them money, it’s hard for the average taxpayer to say how much.

That’s precisely why it’s easier to increase industrial carbon taxes.

Hiking industrial carbon taxes is the wrong approach. It makes Canadians’ lives more expensive and will push Canadian businesses into the hands of the Trump administration.

Instead of pursuing an underhanded, hidden carbon tax agenda, Carney should focus on keeping costs down for Canadians and ensuring Canada becomes a more attractive place to do business.

It’s time for Carney to end his obsession with carbon taxes.

Jay Goldberg is a fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy