Canada

REMEMBER BREXIT? That time a Conservative Party directed widespread voter frustration at a single easy scapegoat, smothered the public with misinformation, and were rewarded with their biggest electoral victory in decades? Something similar is happening today in Canada.

The scapegoat this time is the “carbon tax.” That’s actually just one part of a complex carbon-pricing policy that imposes a fuel charge on consumers and industry alike while delivering a rebate directly to most Canadians. The principle is simple: raise the cost of something and people find ways to use less of it. But it’s also ripe for slander, because the fine print is so complicated: the amount you pay and are reimbursed depends on where you live, how much you make, how big your family is, and what you do for a living. Plus, while the government calls it “carbon pricing,” most people know it simply as a “tax.”