Ontario Liberal Party leader Bonnie Crombie took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax and recently announced rebate cheques that both Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford plan on sending to their constituents.
At an Ontario Liberal fundraising event in front of party donors, Crombie attempted to distance herself and her party from the federal Liberals by declaring her willingness to stand up to the prime minister if she becomes Premier after the next provincial election.
Crombie told donors that she won’t tell Trudeau what to do as prime minister, but would be willing to call him out for policies that she disagrees with like the carbon tax.
“I’m not here to tell the prime minister how to do his job,” said Crombie. “But, I promise you, I will tell him when he’s wrong. Like on the carbon tax.”
Crombie also said that she would rather see a reduction in taxes rather than governments sending out rebate cheques with taxpayer dollars, as Trudeau and Ford have signalled that they would be doing.
“And, I’d rather cut your income taxes permanently than cut you a rebate cheque,” said Crombie.
Last month, Crombie announced that if the Liberals form government after the next election they would implement a tax cut for middle class Ontarians and would eliminate sales taxes on home heating and hydro bills. This builds upon the Ontario Liberals’ plan to slash the small business tax rate in half.
True North reached out to the Premier’s office for comment, though no response was given.
Crombie’s pronouncement against the carbon tax comes as the federal Liberals have been sagging to all-time lows in public opinion polls while the Ontario Liberals’ support has stagnated.
According to 338Canada, if a provincial election were held tomorrow, the Progressive Conservatives would add seats to their super-majority and win 91 out of 124 seats in the legislature while the Ontario Liberals are only projected to win 12 seats.
Crombie has made a concerted effort to distance the party from its left-wing past under leaders like former Premier Kathleen Wynee and Steven Del Duca since beginning her campaign for the Liberal leadership.
On the campaign trail, Crombie said that she thought the Liberals had moved too far to the left and would “govern from the right of centre.”
