In November Preston Manning wrote an op-ed for the Globe and Mail in which he endorsed the concept of a carbon tax but cautioned advocates to avoid calling it a carbon tax. Turned out he was on to something. In addition to discovering that 54 per cent of 1438 Canadians polled think the government “can and should do more to reduce emissions” a recently released survey conducted by Abacus Data notes that people tend to support the concept of a carbon tax if it’s worded correctly; only 44 per cent supported a “national carbon tax that would be phased in over time” while 59 per cent of people polled supported a proposal to “increase taxes on activities and products that produce higher emissions.”
“The survey shows that the closer you get to describing something as a ‘tax’ the less likely you’re going to find broad support for it” says David Coletto Abacus’ CEO. “There’s support for moving towards a pricing of carbon in some way but if you go closer to individuals having to pay more for something you’re going to find less support for it.”
Somewhat surprisingly 47 per cent of Albertans polled supported a “national carbon tax” compared to only 38 per cent of British Columbians (B.C. is the only province in Canada with a legitimate carbon tax). Only 40 per cent of Conservative voters think more should be done compared to 58 per cent of Liberal voters and 70 per cent of NDP supporters.