Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie is ruling out a carbon tax if her party forms government after the 2026 election, pouring cold water on a major point of criticism from Premier Doug Ford.
Just months into the job, Crombie has faced a wave of attack ads from the Ontario Progressive Conservatives looking to frame her politics before she can define herself before voters.
Ford, who often rails against the federal Liberal government over the regulatory price on carbon, has questioned Crombie’s position on carbon pricing, going so far as to call her the “queen of the carbon tax.”
While Crombie was initially hesitant to clearly state her position on carbon pricing, her party issued a statement on Monday ruling out fees that would impact consumers directly.
“We will ensure major polluters pay, but we will not have an Ontario carbon tax on consumers,” Crombie said in a statement.
Crombie also announced a new climate action panel, chaired by MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon, that will help inform the Ontario Liberal Party’s election platform.
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“We have a great team, this is a new day and this government is doing nothing on the climate front,” McMahon told reporters on Monday, saying policies on electric vehicles and a new provincial park are not enough.
The panel has effectively been told not to look at one policy — levying a carbon tax — but will come forward with other carbon price and environmental policies.
“We have spoken to people and we are looking at something different,” McMahon said. “We will engage people, we want polluters to play, it has not been well-communicated, it is a federal issue and we will look at anything and everything else.”
She said there needs to be a “carrot and a stick” approach in Ontario, calling the Ford government “dinosaurs” but refusing to be drawn on the federal price on carbon.
In a statement Monday morning, Crombie stressed she was committed to climate action.
“Climate change is an existential threat to our province’s economic prosperity and to the health and safety of future generations,” Crombie said in a statement. “This Conservative government has taken us backwards — they have no plan to fight climate change.”
Among the panellists: former minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs Carol Mitchell, former environment minister Chris Ballard and Vince Gasparro, former principal secretary to former Toronto mayor John Tory and currently a board member with the World Wildlife Fund.
The Liberals say the panel will explore policies to fight climate change with pricing for polluters and by “helping households become more energy efficient.”
The governing Progressive Conservatives were quick to call on Crombie to go further, demanding the Ontario Liberal Leader criticize the federal carbon price.
“I think it would be very, very meaningful if Bonnie Crombie, the Liberal Leader in Ontario, came out and joined the PCs in Ontario… in saying no and asking Justin Trudeau to put a pause on the federal carbon tax,” Energy Minister Todd Smith said after question period.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said other political parties were calling for a pause or cut to carbon pricing.
“She should have a position on it and tell the people of Ontario where she sits on the federal carbon tax,” he said.
Ottawa will increase its price on carbon on April 1.
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