Despite the impending hike in gas prices, an overwhelming majority of Ontario's commuters actually support the new Carbon tax. New research released by the University of Toronto found that carbon pricing is largely supported by Ontarians living the in Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA).
For the purpose of surveying commuters, their research excluded downtown Toronto, since more people would be driving into the city. Of the remaining GTHA researched, they found that 59% of Ontarians actually support carbon pricing and the plan that will be rolled out by the Canadian Government on Monday, April 1. Only 28% opposed the pricing plan and 13% were undecided.
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The plan is to make up for the fact that Doug Ford scrapped the provincial carbon pricing back in July of 2018. Now Justin Trudeau's government is implementing a carbon tax in Ontario that will charge for emissions. Large industrial companies have already started being charged for their outputs while the charges on fossil fuels come into play on April 1. This is what will impact Ontarians most as it will drive up gas prices.
Despite this, commuters in the GTHA are still in support of the carbon pricing plan and some of them who used to oppose it changed their mind once they found out where the money was going.
According to the University of Toronto, out of the 59% of Ontarians in the GTHA who were opposed to a carbon tax, 48% of them changed their mind and said they now supported it when they found out that the money from the pricing plan would go back to households and businesses in Ontario.
The survey results specifically indicate that when told about the rebate, the number of Ontarians in the GTHA who actually support the plan rose to 70%, an even more overwhelming majority.
@justinpjtrudeauThe new plan from the Canadian Government outlines that proceeds from this carbon pricing will go directly back into Ontario households in the form of Climate Action Incentive Payments. These will be given back to families on their tax returns, and for a family of four will be $307 this year.
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The survey was done by the Loewen Lab at U of T. They surveyed 504 people in the GTHA, balanced by age and gender. They also weighed the results to represent the general population of Ontario, considering factors like gender, age, home ownership, and country of origin.
