Liberal leadership hopeful Clark says she would scrap carbon tax, denies Conservative membership

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she would scrap the federal carbon tax if she becomes the next Liberal leader and prime minister — and is denying that she was ever a member of the Conservative Party.

Clark told CBC Radio's The House that she is "seriously thinking about" running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and would end one of his key environmental policies if she is successful in winning the leadership.

"I don't think we should keep the carbon tax that the federal government has. I think that the Trudeau carbon tax isn't working," she told host Catherine Cullen in an interview airing Saturday.

Clark's comments come after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre billed the former premier as "carbon tax Clark" and the "carbon tax queen" during a press conference on Thursday.

Clark kept the B.C. carbon tax in place that was implemented by her predecessor, Gordon Campbell, in 2008. While the tax was initially meant to increase over time, Clark's government froze the price at $30 per tonne in 2012 after she took over leadership. The current federal levy is $80 a tonne and set to increase to $95 in April.

"A carbon tax isn't the only answer to fighting climate change. There is a whole range of other tools in the toolbox and we would be committing to figuring out which tools we want to put to work, but also with a mind to making sure that they aren't things that will hold people back, that will hurt our economy," Clark told Cullen.

The former B.C. premier also denied ever having been a member of the federal Conservatives, even though she previously endorsed former Quebec premier and Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Jean Charest's bid for that party's leadership in 2022.

Clark told Cullen that she endorsed Charest because she didn't want Poilievre to win, but that she never formally signed up with the party to vote for him.

"I never got a membership and I never got a ballot," she said.

"I came out and I supported Jean Charest and the reason I did this is simple: I thought it was vitally important that we stopped Pierre Poilievre."

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party refuted Clark's claims, saying they have records of Clark's membership from the 2022 leadership race.

"Christy Clark purchased a Conservative Party membership through Jean Charest's leadership campaign. That membership is no longer active," Sarah Fischer, the party's director of communications, said in an email.

When asked about Fischer's statement, Clark pushed back and insisted she had never been a member.

"Why don't they come out and show my membership or my ballot? They never sent me any of those — although I wouldn't put it past them to manufacture one of them," Clark told Cullen.