Michael Chong wants carbon pricing to become a defining issue in the federal Conservative leadership race.

The Wellington-Halton Hills MP challenged his rival Simcoe-Grey MP Kellie Leitch to debate carbon taxes after she announced her opposition to them Thursday.

“I challenge Kellie Leitch to take part in a public debate on carbon taxes,” said Chong in an interview Friday. “I’ll make myself available for that debate, which can be hosted by a neutral third party.”

A third candidate, Parry-Sound Muskoka MP Tony Clement, said Thursday in a tweet he opposes any carbon pricing imposed by the federal government. Chong said he invites all candidates to take part in the debate.

Chong has been bold in defining his own brand of conservatism. He resigned from a cabinet post in the Harper era over his party’s position on Quebec nationhood and took on his former bosses over the PMO’s control of MPs.

A maverick whose support within the Conservative party remains untested, Chong sees an opportunity to gain traction on the green file.

“We, as Conservatives, need to do better on the issue of the environment,” said Chong. “We need to have a position on carbon pricing because four provinces representing 80 per cent of Canadians have already put in place a price in carbon.”

The federal government can’t be soft on carbon pricing either, said Chong, because differences among the provincial regimes will lead to perverse incentives for business.

“The federal government must coordinate a national price across regions and economic sectors to avoid distortions and damage to our national economy,” he said. “The federal government has the constitutional jurisdiction without doubt to regulate pollution.”

Chong announced his support for carbon pricing when he joined the race on May 16, but the candidates who followed didn’t share their views on climate change until recently.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed his government to carbon pricing in an interview with the CBC on Wednesday, sparking a rebuttal from the provincial and territorial governments still opposed to the idea during the premiers’ annual Council of the Federation meeting this week in Whitehorse.

Federal Conservative leadership candidates jumped on board in opposing Trudeau, with Clement announcing his support for Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Leitch spelling out her position in a blog post.

Leitch said she opposes a price on carbon because it would disproportionately impact seniors and low-income people. Carbon taxes can be implemented by reducing income taxes and offering tax credits for the disadvantaged to reduce those impacts, said Chong.

Leadership candidate and Beauce MP Maxime Bernier has not said what emissions policy he supports. An interview with the National Observer from June said he was tight-lipped on carbon pricing. The only other candidate in the race, Calgary Forest Lawn MP Deepak Obhrai, hasn’t outlined a climate change policy either.

Chong said he supports a debate organized by any neutral third party, though he also said he’d like the Conservative Party to fast-track a series of planned debates set to begin in the fall. He didn’t know if party organizers were open to topical debates, he said.

Carbon pricing have become a hot issue in conservative circles at the provincial level since the Conservatives lost power in Ottawa last November.

In March, Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown announced his support for carbon pricing. Earlier this month, former Conservative federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney announced his plans to campaign against a provincial carbon tax as he runs to lead Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives and unite them with the Wildrose Party.