Misinformation won: How divisive politics doomed Canada’s carbon tax |
Canada’s consumer carbon tax is dead and buried, repealed in 2025. Given the divisive politics that surrounded the carbon tax, many are probably happy never to think about it again. However, research we published last month offers important lessons about how toxic politics threatens the quality of Canada’s public policies and democracy.
Before it was repealed, we asked Canadians what the carbon tax was costing them at the pump. We found that Conservative voters were living in a different world. Compared to neighbours with similar fuel consumption — who would have been taxed roughly the same — they estimated it was costing them hundreds of dollars more every month.
Our research, combined with numerous academic studies of the British Columbia carbon tax, drives home a sobering conclusion: a policy that was fair, effective at fighting climate change and even put money into most taxpayers’ pockets died because Canadians simply didn’t believe any of that.
What the research found
We undertook a series of public opinion surveys to better understand Canadians’ perceptions of their carbon tax costs and rebates, and how those impacted opposition to the carbon tax.
Our study, recently published in the Climatic Change journal, asked them how much they thought the carbon tax was costing them.........