About half of Ontarians say they would abolish the carbon tax if given the chance, a new poll suggests.

A new Liaison Strategies poll released this week, which surveyed 1,280 Ontarians, suggests that about 49 per cent of residents support cancelling of carbon pricing while about 27 per cent argue it should stay in place.

“When it comes to climate change and the carbon tax – Ontarians have a lot of mixed opinions but 54 per cent say that affordability and the cost of living is more important than protecting the environment, Principal David Valentin said in a statement.

Canada’s price on carbon pollution increased by $15 per tonne on April 1 as part of an annual hike.

The policy is meant to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The federal government does offer a rebate to consumers as part of their tax return.

When asked if they would still support abolishing the carbon tax if it meant also cancelling the federal rebate associated with the program, the numbers are a bit smaller.

About 41 per cent of respondents stood firm on their decision to cancel the program, while about 37 per cent said to keep it.

While the majority of respondents said they believe the amount of pollution produced in Ontario is decreasing compared to five years ago, just 21 per cent believe the province is doing the most to reduce it.

About 54 per cent of respondents said the federal government was doing the most to reduce pollution, while similarly, about 65 per cent said the provincial government was doing the least.

The poll comes as the federal Conservatives press for a televised sit down between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and premiers to discuss halting the policy, a motion that the New Democratic Party has supported.

It’s important to note that provinces can adopt their own carbon pricing program in order to opt out of the federal carbon tax, something the Ford government has refused to do.

PCs still in the lead

If a provincial election were held in Ontario today, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives would hang on to the lead.

According to the survey, about 35 per cent said they would cast a vote for the PCs, while 25 per cent said they would vote for the Ontario Liberal Party.

The Ontario NDP had about 15 per cent support while the Green Party had four per cent support.

About 16 per cent of respondents were undecided.

Methodology

The survey was conducted using interactive voice recordings between April 6 and April 7. Responses were weighed using demographic and geographic information compared with the 2021 census. The margin of error is about plus or minus 2.74 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.