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“None of the carbon pricing regimes instituted by the Wynne Government, Notley Government or the Trudeau Government come anywhere close to meeting these requirements,” Manning writes, adding the entire concept has been “badly bungled” across the country. Despite what you may have been told, Canada does not have a carbon tax policy anywhere that meets a proper market-oriented standard.

Here’s another example of what happens when pro-carbon-tax “conservatives” are confronted with political reality. Mark Cameron was once a senior policy adviser to the Harper government and, until recently, the public face of the carbon-tax advocacy group Canadians for Clean Prosperity. Last month, however, he was announced as Alberta’s new deputy minister for policy co-ordination. Cameron is thus now in charge of implementing cabinet directives under Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. And what was the first piece of government legislation to land on his desk? Bill 1: The Carbon Tax Repeal Act. Tax-supporting conservatives committed to following the direction of voters can expect to find themselves in similarly embarrassing situations with increasing frequency.

The conservative case for anything must always built on a solid foundation of evidence. So, if carbon taxation is indeed a conservative policy — as we are repeatedly told it is — then such a claim must be supported by proof. And yet the evidence from voters and conservative politicians across Canada and around the world shows the opposite to be true. Similarly, many conservative thinkers who once supported carbon taxation on its theoretical merits are now in retreat as their original idealism conflicts fatally with the messy business of voter attitudes and political reality.

Is carbon taxation a conservative idea? Not if facts are your criteria.

• Peter Shawn Taylor is a journalist, policy analyst and contributing writer to Canadians for Affordable Energy.