Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Scott Aitchison says while a price on carbon might be the “most effective” policy to curb emissions, he’d scrap it anyway.
In an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, the Ontario-based MP said while he wouldn’t introduce a tax policy as leader, he will put forward a climate plan.
“We need to lower emissions there’s no question about that but we neexjmtzywd to actually assist Canadians to reduce their footprint. I recognize that you know a carbon tax may be the most effective and efficient way to do this but it’s not the fairest way to do it,” he said.
“We need to work with municipalities and we need to help Canadians reduce their footprint, not punish them.”
Aitchison had publicly supported elements of former leader Erin O’Toole’s plan to fight climate change, which included a carbon-pricing scheme.
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Under the O’Toole plan, Canadians would see funds accumulated from fuel consumption stored in an account that could be used later on green purchases like a bicycle or transit pass. O’Toole insisted it was not a tax.
In an op-ed in the Huntsville Doppler published last spring, Aitchison said he had “hoped” the party could eliminate consumer pricing and acknowledges that the proposed system “will be more complex than a tax and rebate system” but he accepted that if carbon pricing must be a part of the solution, “it should help Canadians instead of punishing” them.
Aitchison is working to introduce himself to Conservative members as one of the lesser known candidates in the party’s leadership race.
Before entering federal politics during the 2019 election, Aitchison served as the mayor of Huntsville and touts that experience when asked what he brings to the table.
“Mayors are in the business of solving problems and getting things done. I come to this opportunity in my career in Ottawa without any of the baggage of Ottawa, but years of experience of actually getting things done,” he said.
He’s not the only contender with a local politics background, Patrick Brown is currently the mayor of Brampton but also served in the House of Commons and Ontario legislature.
Aitchison released his housing policy on Tuesday that focuses in on boosting supply to tackle the housing crisis. Specifically, he promises to end exclusionary zoning in big cities and will work with cities to “set clear rules” for new building projects. He’s also pledged to invest in affordable and social housing and crack down on money laundering.
Expanding on his pitch to end exclusionary zoning on CTV’s Question Period, he said the federal government can tie the billions of dollars sent to municipalities each year for infrastructure to this objective.
Aitchison refuted the assertion that the proposal sounds more like a Liberal solution – funding with strings attached – than a Conservative one.
“The Liberal solution is to announce billions of dollars and never actually accomplish anything. The Conservative part of this plan is actually getting something done. I think Canadians actually aren’t interested in ideological entrenchment, they’re actually interested in solutions,” he said.
“If we can tie that money to getting things done…we can actually get units built and that’s the issue.”
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A man fills up his truck with gas in Toronto, on Monday, April 1, 2019. Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions soared 15 million tonnes in 2018 the latest national inventory report shows. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
