Members of the federal cabinet applaud as Prime Minister Mark Carney signs an order-in-council to eliminate the consumer carbon price, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on March 14.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Members of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet who are now serving as ministers under Mark Carney have declined to say whether they support the new Liberal Leader’s decisions to scrap both the consumer carbon levy and the planned hike in the capital gains tax.
With the exception of Chrystia Freeland – who challenged Mr. Carney for the Liberal Leadership, and now serves as his Minister of Transport and Minister of Internal Trade – the 20 ministers asked by The Globe and Mail about the reversals of the two policies did not directly respond.
Many of the ministers openly supported the policies when they were introduced by Mr. Trudeau.
Steven Guilbeault, currently Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity, announced and repeatedly defended the consumer carbon levy. As finance minister, Ms. Freeland publicly championed the capital gains tax increase.
Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in January defended the consumer portion of the carbon price, saying if he were to become Liberal Leader he would continue to make the argument that it enhances Canada’s ability to address climate change in a manner that’s affordable.
Mr. Carney, after being sworn in as Prime Minister on March 14, scrapped the Liberals’ flagship consumer carbon levy. The policy had been a key target of attack from the Conservatives, who argued it hiked the cost of living.
Mr. Carney signed a prime ministerial directive instructing that the levy be removed effective April 1, although the month’s carbon rebates would go ahead as planned.
He said the change would “make a difference to hard-pressed Canadians” and is only one of “a set of measures that this government is taking to ensure that we fight against climate change, that our companies are competitive and the country moves forward.”
Mr. Carney also ditched a multibillion-dollar Liberal plan to hike the inclusion rate on capital gains, announced in the federal budget last year.
The policy would have made businesses and individuals reporting more than $250,000 in capital gains in a year pay more tax on the proceeds. Legislation enacting the change had yet to be approved in Parliament before Mr. Trudeau prorogued proceedings earlier this year.
Mr. Carney, asked by The Globe on Wednesday about what discussions took place with ministers before the decision to ditch the flagship policies, said that he “was clear during the Liberal leadership campaign that I thought we needed a different approach, in many respects.
“The consumer carbon tax was one of them. Our fiscal approach, we needed to change. A series of other elements of the economic strategy needed to change. I brought change.”
He added that “an important thing in politics is, you know and certainly people at home expect, is that if you make a clear promise, you deliver on it. So we delivered on getting rid of the carbon tax on day one.”
The Globe asked 20 ministers who served Mr. Trudeau and now Mr. Carney what their views were of the decision to reverse the Liberal policies, and what their views of those policies are now.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, said in a statement about Mr. Carney that ”as someone who has known him for 25 years, I am confident in his plan to stand up to Donald Trump, ensure Canada has the fastest growing economy in the G7, solve our housing crisis, fight climate change, and protect our public services."
Mr. Wilkinson did not directly address the carbon levy or the capital-gains move.
Audrey Milette, a spokesperson for François-Philippe Champagne, referred to an interview he did last month with CTV after being made Mr. Carney’s finance minister, in which he was asked about the Liberals’ decision to back away from the carbon levy.
Mr. Champagne said in the interview that the change would “make a difference to hard-pressed Canadians” and was one of “a set of measures that this government is taking to ensure that we fight against climate change, that our companies are competitive and the country moves forward.”
Ms. Freeland had said she would scrap the consumer carbon levy if she became Liberal Leader when she was running against Mr. Carney, and that she would not press ahead with capital-gains tax rise.
Her federal election campaign team told The Globe in a statement that “she was the first person to announce in the leadership race that we should reverse the changes to capital gains, to keep Canada competitive given the Trump administration’s tax policy, and that we should remove the consumer-facing price on pollution because we need to fight climate change, not each other.”
Among the ministers who declined to comment were Kamal Khera, the Health Minister; Justice Minister Gary Anandasangaree; and Anita Anand, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.
Mr. Carney gave cabinet roles to a number of long-serving Trudeau ministers, including Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Guilbeault.
During the Liberal leadership contest, Mr. Guilbeault, a staunch advocate of carbon pricing, indicated he was open to replacing the levy with other measures to help Canada meet its climate targets.
Guillaume Bertrand, Liberal campaign spokesperson, said “cancelling the consumer carbon tax was the first step in ensuring that Canadians can keep more of their hard-earned money.
“As one of his first acts as Prime Minister, Mark Carney announced that Canada will cancel the proposed hike in the capital gains inclusion rate, because we recognize the vital role that builders, investors, and small businesses play in creating a strong economy.”