With a federal election in the offing and the UN pushing for a global climate agreement in Paris in December, now is the time for Canada to have an adult conversation about carbon pricing, says Toronto Star national affairs writer Tim Harper.
“The void should not be filled by the provinces. It demands federal leadership. But if there is timidity at the federal level right now, you can blame the tao of Stephen Harper,” he writes. “Just as neither Tom Mulcair nor Justin Trudeau will talk about running deficits—the Conservatives’ fanatic budget-balancing religion is now gospel here—neither opposition leader is anxious to take to the streets to talk about carbon pricing.”
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Tim Harper reviews the politics and perceptions surrounding carbon pricing, noting that four provinces representing 86% of the Canadian population will soon have pricing schemes in place. “Things are moving on this file, even though you’d scarcely know it in Ottawa,” he writes. While provincial premiers deserve credit, “this should be a debate driven at the federal level.”
