A national price on carbon was introduced (money was collected, but then refunded to individual annually/quarterly), but provinces could implement something different if it met the same goals (Quebec and (at first) Ontario went with cap-and-trade). The federal Liberals were attacked for a tax grab (even though monies were refunded, and the SCOC ruled it was not a tax):
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_pricing_in_Canada
Those that attacked the federal Liberals were generally [Cc]onservatives… never mind that folks like Milton Friedman thought putting a price/tax on pollution was a good 'market based' mechanism:
> In 1979, Friedman expressed support for environmental taxes in general in an interview on The Phil Donahue Show, saying "the best way to [deal with pollution] is to impose a tax on the cost of the pollutants emitted by a car and make an incentive for car manufacturers and for consumers to keep down the amount of pollution."[157] In Free to Choose, Friedman reiterated his support for environmental taxes as compared with increased environmental regulation, stating "The preservation of the environment and the avoidance of undue pollution are real problems and they are problems concerning which the government has an important role to play. ... Most economists agree that a far better way to control pollution than the present method of specific regulation and supervision is to introduce market discipline by imposing effluent charges."[158][159]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman#Governmental_i...
And folks like Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker recommended something similar for the US:
* https://clcouncil.org/economists-statement/
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economists%27_Statement_on_Car...
Some provincial leaders looked at other options to carbon pricing and found the alternatives would cost more:
* https://nationalpost.com/news/scott-moe-says-saskatchewan-co...