Norbert Cunningham: Liberals must scrap carbon tax

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Governments tend to convince themselves they have the best solutions for everything the nation or their province needs or wants, and dismiss too lightly indications they’re losing ground to opposition parties. Power seems to often breed over-confidence and arrogance.

A single line in the recent big-spending, 340-page federal budget refers to redefining who qualifies as a “rural citizen” in Metropolitan Census Areas such as Saint John and Moncton. This would, in the stroke of a pen, double the rural carbon tax rebate for these newly defined rural residents, despite the budget doubling all rural rebates anyway.

The enduring carbon tax controversy simply won’t go away. Now, obviously without much careful thought, or the humility to openly admit they’ve failed to convince most Canadians and provinces that the carbon tax actually works as anything but a huge tax grab, they’ve tweaked it when the only truly effective way to neutralize the Opposition is to usurp their stand – scrap the tax! Apologize sincerely and implement better policy to achieve the goal. It is possible.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government thinks it has a better idea, but in reality it’s more likely to make the train of public discontent, already gathering a good head of steam, turn into a classic runaway train that can only be stopped by a terrific derailment. If it happens, it’s goodbye Trudeau government. I’m not predicting that yet, but it’s a genuine possibility of which the government appears oblivious.

Many an overconfident federal or provincial government has fallen from such over-confidence, and not just Liberal ones. Stephen Harper’s last mandate saw another. Voters do ultimately decide.

Trudeau’s Liberal minority appears to be missing the fact its growing unpopularity so far has more to do with its leader’s serial missteps, scandals, embarrassments and his growing image of opportunism and incompetence. Schemers whose efforts often collapse into muddled messes eventually lose their sheen. Trudeau trying to defeat his prime opponents with more such schemes and big spending has grown old.

Some senior Liberals reportedly want Trudeau to resign soon, though the party denies it. Who knows? The very fact credible media and reporters are publishing sourced stories and not retracting them, speaks volumes whether Trudeau is replaced as leader soon or not. The government is increasingly looking desperately for a lifeline.

Doubling, and for some, redoubling allegedly neutral carbon tax rebates won’t be it.

Norbert Cunningham is a Brunswick News columnist and a retired editorial page editor of the Times & Transcript