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But a much higher tax wasn’t going to happen, McKenna said in June. “The plan is not to increase the price post-2022,” she told reporters. “We are doing exactly what we said we’d do, what we negotiated with provinces and territories in 2016.” Canada would close the gap through some other means.

The Liberals' position essentially boiled down to 'Carbon pricing is by far the best option, and we won't be making further use of it'

This was a bizarre position for the Liberals to take. One of the main criticisms of the Conservative climate change plan is that it isn’t serious precisely because it doesn’t put a price on carbon. The Tory plan to tax only major emitters and put those revenues into technological solutions was widely panned by the Liberals (and others) entirely on the grounds that a carbon tax is the simplest, most efficient way of reducing carbon emissions. That’s also what the Liberals say when criticized for the first $50 of tax — they defend it on the grounds that it’s the fastest, most-effective and least-economically disruptive way of meeting our Paris targets.

Which made it weird for them to rule out further boosts in favour of vague other measures. The Liberals’ carbon tax position essentially boiled down to “Carbon pricing is by far the best option, and we won’t be making further use of it.”

I’m actually agnostic on what the best approach for Canada is. I don’t think it’ll matter much in the end. We’re too small a player in a global problem, which makes the often absurdly amped-up rhetoric over Canadian climate policy so laughable. If the fate of the world hinges on the Liberal plan vs. the Conservative plan, I regret to inform you all that we’re doomed. The reality is that the world will rein in carbon emissions, or not, regardless of what Canada does. That’s not an excuse for inaction, but it is important to keep in mind when considering what the best Canadian response is for Canada. Again, I’m agnostic. My own gut feeling is that the world will get a handle on carbon emissions two generations after carbon-free sources of energy become cheaper than carbon-emitting alternatives. Arguably, we’ve already hit the point where green energy is cheaper — or we’re damn near to it. That’s good! As all the carbon-heavy power sources age out and are replaced, carbon emissions will drop. That’ll take decades, but it’ll happen.