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BY PETER BEVAN-BAKER

GUEST OPINION

The recent debate around carbon pricing has created challenges I never anticipated three years ago when I was first elected. Back then, I was the lone Green MLA, I had a tiny but enthusiastic group of advisors, and party membership was small.

On the issue of climate change, I could stand up and defend my conviction that carbon pricing is the most effective and efficient means to reduce emissions. Economists agree, and it has been implemented successfully in dozens of jurisdictions.

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When done properly, it not only reduces emissions without placing any additional burden on low and middle-income families, but it can actually improve the economy by easing the transition to new green tech opportunities.

But the political landscape has changed. I now lead a caucus (albeit we are a caucus of two), the party has a wide and diverse membership, and polls show the Greens in a three-way race to form the next government. With so much at stake, I recognize I need to be “strategic” as well as idealistic.

So, when both the Liberals and the Conservatives announced that they would oppose a price on carbon, I had to consider what was best for my party, as well as what was in my heart.

The strategists for both the Liberals and Conservatives know that aligning your party with a new tax or fee is dangerous, if not political suicide. I now have a caucus colleague, employees and candidates who have all put their trust in me. Some have suggested it’s time for me to be more “strategic” and start acting like the leader of a “real party.”

But if I am going to be more strategic, I will also have to be less forthright with Islanders. The Liberals know that a carbon policy imposed by Ottawa will never meet the needs of Islanders as effectively as one that has been designed by Islanders to protect our vulnerable citizens and our primary industries.

When the PCs say they can protect the climate without costing taxpayers, they conveniently forget that taxpayers will pay for any new incentives to reduce emissions and their doomed legal action to prevent carbon pricing -- a double hit to Islanders wallets.

It may not be strategic but I prefer to be honest with voters. Good governing improves people’s lives: it makes things better, and it is willing to face difficult challenges head on. Good governing sometimes requires courage. That’s why you’ll see a clear and unambiguous commitment from me and the Green Party to price carbon pollution in a socially and economically responsible way.

I believe Islanders want leaders who have the vision to address the imminent threat of climate change and are responsible enough to initiate an honest conversation on how to reduce emissions. In fact, I’m willing to bet my political future on it.

Peter Bevan-Baker, MLA, leader of the Green Party of P.E.I.