OTTAWA–There was no hint when Conservative caucus met Wednesday that Erin O’Toole was about to reverse party orthodoxy and propose a carbon levy.
Sources who spoke to the Star said Conservative MPs were blindsided by O’Toole’s announcement Thursday that his climate change plan included a consumer carbon price of $20 per tonne, rising to $50 per tonne in 2030.
It was a stunning reversal for the Conservative leader, who pledged to scrap the Liberal government’s carbon levy — which Conservatives have routinely labelled a “carbon tax” — throughout the party’s leadership contest last year.
But in speaking to Conservative MPs, and later at an Ottawa news conference, O’Toole steadfastly denied that his proposed price on carbon amounted to a “carbon tax.”
Last summer, @erinotoole told us he would repeal carbon taxes. Today, he’s breaking that promise. #canpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/oXiZfnjjHp
— Taxpayer.com (@taxpayerDOTcom) April 15, 2021
