"Wind out of the sail": BC astounded by premier's carbon tax plan
BC residents and politicians alike were shocked by a major announcement yesterday regarding the carbon tax.
At a campaign event, BC Premier David Eby announced that he would scrap the consumer carbon tax under one condition.
“Our commitment is that if the federal government decides to remove the legal backstop requiring us to have a consumer carbon tax in British Columbia, we will end the consumer carbon tax in British Columbia,” he said.
The reaction came strong and fierce, including from leaders of rival BC political parties.
BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad went on the attack almost immediately, calling Eby a flip-flopper.
Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau said the decision wasn’t good for the climate. Eby claims he’s still focused on fighting climate change.
“I’m deeply committed to both fighting the climate crisis while helping British Columbians with costs so they can afford and benefit from lower-cost clean energy alternatives,” Eby said in a statement.
Then there were BC residents, who seemed fairly divided on the announcement.
“Talk about taking a little wind out of the sail…”
Adam Melnyk/Shutterstock
Daily Hive readers had a lot to say about the bombshell dropped by Eby.
“In the conservative view, CPC leader Poilievre promising to axe the carbon tax is a brilliant political strategy given there’s a Fed election next year or sooner. In fact, he’s running his whole campaign based on that promise, calling it a carbon tax election. But when BC NDP leader Eby promises to axe the carbon tax with a Provincial election coming up in October, the same conservatives say it’s a shameful political strategy,” said one reader.
Another Daily Hive reader said, “Talk about taking a little wind out of the sail of the BC Conservatives.”
Others echoed that sentiment.
“John Rustad is criticizing the move while at the same time taking credit for it. You can’t make this stuff up.”
Many of the reactions think Eby’s announcement is a good sign for the BC Conservative Party.
Haha. The BC Conservatives must be winning.
— AntiMarxist 🇻🇪 (@deltasense1) September 13, 2024
One X user called it “poll panic.”
Some sounded off on their concerns about the environment and what the carbon tax was presumably created for.
“How many cities have to burn before we look in the mirror?”
No matter which side of the debate you support, this move is undoubtedly going to make next month’s election a whole lot more interesting.