Good morning.
When Danielle Veach, a village counsellor in tiny Pouce Coupe, B.C., decided in 2022 she wanted to run for mayor, she knew she’d be up against a deeply embittered opponent.
The village of some 800 people had been embroiled in “several political firestorms well out of proportion to its size,” wrote B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ward K. Branch, who was compelled to wade into the turbid water of the village’s politics after the previous mayor filed a petition aimed at overturning the election results.
The relationship between the two rivals had become such common knowledge before the election – an imbroglio involving objectionable Facebook posts and vitriol – that Ms. Veach sought to hold a “Tea and Talk.” Cinnamon buns and coffee were also to be had.
Vote buying, complained opponent Lorraine Michetti, and a violation of electoral rules under the province’s Local Government Act. She lost the election with 79 votes to Ms. Veach’s 84 and she took the case to court.
After a dizzying review of the village’s nasty political climate, Justice Branch concluded in January, 2023, that the provision of less than $100 in refreshments (including a tip for the hosting restaurant) did not amount to an inducement for voters.
Politicians in larger arenas have offered voters goodies far beyond a hot beverage and homestyle pastry. As Globe reporter Justine Hunter wrote Monday, the federal government will distribute close to $4-billion to some 13 million Canadians under the Canada Carbon Rebate.
The rebate isn’t technically a rebate: It’s a prepayment to Canadians meant to cover the costs of the carbon levy. Because Prime Minister Mark Carney eliminated the carbon tax, Canadians won’t be paying those costs. But they’ll still get the rebate and for those who had filed their taxes before April 2, that rebate will come days before the April 28 election. (Those that filed later will get it after their 2024 return is assessed.)
The amount of the payment depends on a household’s size and where they live. For example, a family of four stands to receive an amount between $220 (in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) and $456 (in Alberta). Residents outside of Quebec, B.C., and the territories are eligible.
Robin Boadway, a professor emeritus of economics at Queen’s University, said continuing the rebates will contribute to the federal deficit but “doesn’t serve any kind of fiscal or tax policy purpose.
“It really fulfills a political objective of buying goodwill.”
Last fall, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Premier, Doug Ford, announced $200 tax-free rebate cheques, with a price tag of $3-billion. The cheques were delivered in early 2025. Mr. Ford won a third consecutive majority government in February.
British Columbia’s NDP Premier, David Eby, promised a grocery rebate of up to $1,000 to individuals and families in that province’s election last fall, outbidding the rival BC Conservative Party, which had promised a smaller rebate for renters and homeowners. The NDP’s $1.8-billion commitment was scrapped earlier this year before the cheques were drafted, but by then Mr. Eby had eked out a majority government.
On Monday, Carney defended his government’s decision to send the cheques. The payment, he said, will act as a bridge to the middle-class tax cuts he pledged he would implement after the April 28 election.
“It’s a very well-thought-through thing,” he said during a campaign stop in Victoria.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had turned his axe-the-tax slogan into a double-digit lead in opinion polls. Carney’s move to kill the tax removed a significant weapon from the Conservatives’ arsenal.
The Conservatives have promised to introduce middle-class tax cuts and to eliminate the entire carbon pricing system. Katy Merrifield, a campaign spokesperson, said the Liberals are still committed to pollution pricing on industry.
But the Conservatives have not said that they would cancel the planned rebate if they formed government.
Given the political climate in Pouce Coupe, Justice Branch noted Ms. Veach probably had “a broader political purpose” for holding the event.
But he found “no reasonable voter would be induced to vote differently by the mere provision of a cup of caffeine or a cinnamon bun.”
It remains to be seen whether Canadians, like the voters in Pouce Coupe, will regard the carbon tax rebate a goodie worthy of swaying their vote.
This is the weekly British Columbia newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.