OTTAWA -- The federal Liberals have a big sales job ahead of them on their proposed national carbon tax.
A new poll Monday said only one in three Canadians has heard about the "green shift" plan and 60 per cent, who can recall anything about it, say it's "a bad idea."
Stéphane Dion
Negative reaction was highest in Alberta at 79 per cent and positive reaction was highest in Quebec at 54 per cent.
Asked what elements of the proposal they have heard about the most, six in 10 could not name a single element.
Fewer than two in 10 named the carbon tax. A minuscule two per cent heard that it's a tax that's supposed to help the environment or stop climate change. And two big features of the plan -- that it would be revenue neutral and used to lower income taxes -- were cited by a tiny three per cent.
The online poll for Canwest News Service and Global Television was conducted from July 2-4 and included 1,028 adults.
Pollster John Wright of Ipsos-Reid said the negative first impressions may be because before the details were even announced, the governing Conservatives pounced. The Conservatives ran ads branding it a "tax grab" and "a tax on everything" and, once details were out, Prime Minister Stephen Harper labelled it "crazy" and said it would "screw" everybody.
"I think the biggest problem that (Liberal Leader) Stéphane Dion has, regardless of the merits, because it may be the right thing to do, is that you have a situation that is more likely to go downhill than it is to go uphill," Wright said in an interview. "This is a classic case of where his wagon has been painted by somebody else before he's been able to paint it."
The poll took place as Dion visited Alberta, the heart of Canada's energy industry, where commentary is running strongly against the tax on grounds it would shift resource revenues from Western Canada to the East. The plan has also revived memories of the Liberals' 1980-85 National Energy Program.
Dion chided Harper on Monday for using "vulgar" language to attack the plan.
He told the Edmonton Journal editorial board he was disappointed in the prime minister's choice of words when he suggested the Liberal plan would "screw" the country.
"I will not use the word that he used," Dion said. "The prime minister should always show the example, especially to our youth, never being vulgar.
"The way they did it is not helping. It's encouraging Canadians to have mistrust."
Negative reaction was highest in Alberta at 79 per cent, followed by Atlantic Canada, 62 per cent; B.C., 61 per cent; Ontario, 60 per cent; Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 58 per cent and Quebec 46 per cent.
The highest portion of those who thought the element they had heard about was a good idea was highest in Quebec at 54 per cent followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 42 per cent; Ontario, 40 per cent; B.C., 39 per cent; Atlantic Canada, 38 per cent and Alberta, 21 per cent.
It comes as the Liberals brace for another blow, with the Toronto environmental company Green Shift putting the final touches to a lawsuit they are expected to launch today, on grounds the Grits have poached their trademark and hurt their non-partisan reputation.
"Anything can happen in politics and global climate change and the environment are serious issues," Wright said. "(Dion) doesn't intend to run away from it but he has to expect that this is going to be a very, very rough road."
The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
-- Canwest News Service
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