Last week, millions of Canadians received their carbon tax rebates — some as big as $550 — in the form of a direct deposit from the federal government. Some people received alerts from the Canada Revenue Agency, which are usually greeted with the same enthusiasm as dental appointment reminders. In fairness, this is an improvement over the first iteration of carbon tax rebates, which were distributed in the form of a refundable tax credit called the “Climate Action Incentive.” Many Canadians didn’t connect the dots between this and the carbon tax, and some probably didn’t even know their accountants had claimed it on their behalf. But when you combine this sort of consistently confusing communication with the long-standing conservative campaign to mislead and misinform Canadians about the carbon tax and rebate, it amounts to gross political malpractice. It’s an unfortunate reminder, not that we really needed one, that the best ideas in the world can fail if they’re not sold properly.

Source: CBC News July 26, 2022 16:53 UTC