Wow - that should translate to something at the next election. . .  not to   
   mention the protests from people who are a whole lot more concerned about   
   their environment than Ford and his tax-reduced corporate polluters.    
      
   Looks like Kathleen Wynne left a legacy of caring about a cleaner province for   
   its people - even the not-so-smart ones.   
   _______________________________   
   Apr 15, 2019   
      
   Ontarians don’t support Doug Ford’s anti-carbon tax campaign   
      
   As Ontario takes the feds to court over a price on carbon, a new poll says   
   Ontarians support the federal measure—especially when they learn about an   
   annual rebate   
      
      
   The Ontario government has been slow to say exactly what it is for when it   
   comes to tackling climate change, but it has been clear about what it is   
   against: the federal government’s carbon price backstop, which came into   
   effect on April 1.   
      
   From Premier Doug Ford’s warnings–dismissed by economists–that a modest   
   increase in the price of gasoline and natural gas could lead to a “carbon   
   tax recession,” to photo ops of cabinet ministers fuelling up at gas pumps   
   before the federal    
   carbon price came in, to the announcement that they are preparing a   
   multi-million dollar television ad campaign against the federal carbon tax,   
   Ontario has stepped up its fight against the federal climate change strategy   
   while giving only a bare outline    
   of their alternative plan.   
      
   Today, Ontario begins the next stage in its opposition to the federal carbon   
   price as it argues in the Ontario Court of Appeal that the federal measure is   
   unconstitutional.   
      
   The vast majority of legal scholars disagree, with most holding that the   
   federal government has clear authority to bring in a carbon price either as an   
   environmental regulatory measure or simply as a direct tax.  The province has   
   said it will spend up to    
   $30 million fighting the feds in court in what is likely a futile   
   challenge.         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   Over the next few weeks, millions more in taxpayer money will be spent telling   
   Ontarians the federal carbon tax will take “a lot of nickels” out of their   
   pockets. But Doug Ford’s team neglects to mention that most Ontarians will   
   get even more    
   nickels back through the federal carbon tax rebate that will return $307 to   
   the average Ontario household.   
      
   In fact, eight in 10 Ontario households will get more back in carbon rebates   
   than they pay in carbon taxes.  Perhaps that’s why most Ontarians oppose   
   Premier Ford spending taxpayer money to take away these rebates.     
      
   Canadians for Clean Prosperity, a not-for-profit organization that supports   
   revenue neutral carbon pricing, commissioned the Loewen Lab at the University   
   of Toronto to conduct a poll of Ontarians on this subject.  We found that only   
   27 per cent of    
   Ontarians support the provincial government’s court challenge of carbon   
   pricing, while 48 per cent are opposed.   
      
   We also asked Ontarians about Premier Ford’s plan to spend tax dollars on an   
   advertising campaign against the federal carbon price.  While in opposition,   
   the Progressive Conservatives criticized Kathleen Wynne for removing the   
   auditor general’s    
   authority to block partisan advertising.  But now, they are preparing to   
   launch blatantly partisan ads of their own, reminiscent of negative   
   advertising during an election campaign.   
      
   Ontarians, by a wide margin, are against this—in our poll, we found that 65   
   per cent oppose the provincial advertising campaign, while only 20 per cent   
   are in favour.  Even many of those who oppose carbon pricing or who support   
   the Progressive    
   Conservatives provincially are nonetheless opposed to spending money on these   
   kinds of negative ads.   
      
   On the merits of carbon pricing itself, Ontarians support the policy, even if   
   modestly.  Fifty per cent of respondents support or accept the federal   
   government’s carbon pricing plan, while 32 per cent are opposed.   
      
   But support for the policy increases significantly as soon as people learn   
   about the federal rebates the provincial government neglects to mention.  When   
   those who are opposed to the policy are told about the rebates, 54 per cent of   
   those who just    
   indicated they oppose the policy change their minds and say they now support   
   or accept carbon pricing.   
      
   Ontarians also seem skeptical of Ontario’s court challenge.  Respondents   
   were evenly split as to which level of government should have primary   
   responsibility for dealing with climate change and carbon emissions.   
      
   Fifty-two per cent say the provinces should take the lead, while 48 per cent   
   see it as a federal role.  However, by a 50 per cent to 32 per cent margin,   
   Ontarians think the federal government is right to step in and impose its own   
   carbon price in    
   provinces (like Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan) that do not   
   bring in a carbon pricing plan of their own.   
      
   So not only does the Ontario government’s argument before the Court of   
   Appeal look weak in the eyes of constitutional experts, but it looks like a   
   losing argument in the court of public opinion as well.   
      
   The bottom line is that when they learn the facts, Ontarians support carbon   
   pricing, despite the Ford government’s protestations.  And they’re   
   certainly opposed to the provincial government spending taxpayers’ dollars   
   to attack carbon pricing—   
   whether those attacks come in the form of legal briefs before the courts or as   
   campaign-style negative ads during a Leafs playoff game.   
      
      
   Methodology: The survey was conducted by Loewen Lab at the University of   
   Toronto.  The survey sampled 1,025 respondents in Ontario. Respondents were   
   provided by Qualtrics and the survey was hosted on the Qualtrics platform.   
   Sample was drawn with quotas    
   for age and gender. The data are further weighted with iterative proportional   
   fitting on census data for age, gender, homeownership, and immigration   
   status.  The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample   
   of the same size is +/- 3%.    
    Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)